The City of New York 



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The City of New York 

By 

Henry Collins Brown 
It 



SIXTY-FIFTH 
THOUSAND 



J. M. RusTON, Publisher 

531 West 37th Street, New York 

1917 



.3 



Pictures and Text 

Copyright, 1915 

H. C. Brown, N. Y. 

Copyright, 1917 
J. M. Ruston 



"Mo -" 

©CI,A4752!)8 



J . F. Tr.pley Co. 
New York 



OCT 3 1917 

/ 



City of Ships 

By Walt Whitman 

City of ships ! 

(O the black ships ! O the fierce ships 1 

Otlie beautiful, sharp-bow' dsteamshipsandsail ships !) 

City of the world ! ( For all races are here ; 

All the lands of the earth make contributions here) ; 

City of the sea ! city of hurrieii and glitteringtides ! 
^City whose gleeful tides continually rush or recede, 
. >• whirling in and out, with eddies and foam ! 

'City of wharves and stores; city of tall facades of 
^ marble and iron I 

j|ilProud and passionate city ! mettlesome, mad extrava- 
l^ gant city ! 

Spring up, O city ! not for peace alone, but be indeed 

yourself, warlike ! 
Fear not 1 submit to no models but your own, O city ! 
Kehold me ' incarnate me, as I have incarnated you ! 
I have rejected nothing you offered me — whom you 

adopted, I have adopted; 
Good or bad, I never question you — I love all — I do 

not condemn anything ; 
I chant and celebrate all that is yours— yet peace no 

more ; 
In peace I chanted peace, but now the drum of war is 

mine ; 
War, red war, is my song through your streets, O city! 

Pitblished by Pertnission of 
David McKay, Philadelphia 



The rare Old Prints are from the Private 
Collections of: 

Mr. Robert Goelet 
Mr. Percy R. Pyne, 26. 
Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan 
Mrs. Robert W. Deforest 
Mr. A. Van Home Stuyvesant 
Mr. Herbert L. Pratt 
Mr. Simeon Ford 
Mr. N. F. Palmer 
Mr.R.T. H.Halsey 
Mr. J. Clarence Davies 
Mr. Robert E. Dowling 
Mr. John N. Golding ( 
Mr. John D. Crimmins 
Mr. Henry Morgenthau 
New York Historical Society 
and others. 



Foreword 

In the pages which follow an 
attempt has been made, in a highly 
condensed form, to give a history of 
our wonderful City and to include 
many items of an unusual character 
which will serve to give the stranger, 
as well as the New Yorker, some idea 
of its early beginnings as well as the 
present complex organization, which 
goes to make up the chief City of the 
New World. 

New York grows so rapidly and 
changes so quickly, that special 
interest will attach to the many rare 
and valuable old prints which adorn 
these pages, and which serve to im- 
part an interest and a charm all their 
own. Many of them are now so rare 
as to be practically inaccessible to the 
ordinary reader; in some cases only 
one or two copies are known to exist. 
They recall a New York, of a more 
modest and perhaps more lovable 
period, — when many of our down 



town streets were still tree embowered 
and little red brick houses of two and 
a half stories were the rule and not 
the exception. 

In striking, contrast to these gentler 
times, are the cloud piercing sky- 
scrapers, the many storied cliff dwel- 
lings, and the rushing subways of 
t j-day. Many readers we know, will 
thank us for preserving these half 
forgotten scenes of 3'esterday and 
not a few will recall them with affec- 
tionate, personal interest. 

To the sentimental side of our little 
work we have also added much prac- 
tical information for the use of 
visitors. It ought to make a desirable 
memento of New York for many 
occasions. 

A much more important volume of 
"Old New York" is now ready 
and will be sent for inspection on 
request. Elsewhere due acknowl- 
edgement is made of the source of 
our pictures. 

H. C. B. 
6 



Table of Contents 

Page 

A Short History of New York 17 to 63 

New York in the Revolution 51 

New York in the Nineteenth Century . . 63 

Curious Facts about New York 85 

Greater New York's Total Assessed 

Valuation 97 

How to See the City 99 

Residences of Prominent People 117 

Famous Churches in Nev/ York 121 

St. Paul's Chapel 125 

The Custom House 139 

The Statue of Liberty 143 

Our Wonderful Bridges 145 

Statue of George III 149 

Some Extra Valuable Sites 153 

Personal Tax List 155 

Governor's Island 159 

Ellis Island 161 

Union Square 1 63 

Madison Square 165 

Fire Boats 169 

The City Hall 171 

India House I77 

Street Car and Subway Systems 181 

The Restaurants of New York 183 

Something about Skyscrapers 187 

What transient Visitors Spend 197 

New York Clearing House 203 

7 



Page 

The Chamber of Commerce 205 

The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse 209 

Where Washington took Farewell of his 

Officers 211 

The Shopping Districts 213 

How to Save Time Seeing the City. . . . 225 
Five Boroughs Constitute the City of 

New York 233 

Old Castle Garden 235 

The City's Office Building 237 

Highest Priced Real Estate in New York239 

Leading Hotels in New York 243 

Laying Out the City in 1807 249 

Beginnings of Free Education 251 

Old Merchants of New York 253 

Beginning of the Telephone 265 

The Swamp 271 

N. Y. Historical Society 279 

The Aquarium 279 

Recreation Piers 275 

Brooklyn Borough 285 

Leading Hotels 243 



List of Illustrations 

Page 

First View of New York i6 

Second View of New York i8 

The Government House, 1790 ._. 20 

Old "Steamship Row", 1890 22 

Present Custom House, Bowling Green. 24 
Washington Square as Parade Giound, 

1853 26 

Corner Broadway and Canal St., 1835 . . 28 
Burning of Barnum's Museum, 1868.. . . 30 
The Peter Goelet House, Broadway and 

19th St., 1893 32 

01d_ Gilbert Elevated Road, Green- 
wich St 34 

Fraunce's Tavern 36 

Chatham Square opp. the Park 1853. . . 38 

First Home of the Union Club 40 

Street Cleaning Department, 1861 42 

Parade of the "White Wings", 1014. . . 44 
The Middle Dutch Church as the Post 

Office 46 

Trinity Church, 1848 48 

The Woolworth Building -50 

Castle Garden until 1880 52 

Old John St. Methodist Church, 176S. . 54 

View of Wall St.. 184s 56 

Statue of George III which stood in 

Bowling Green , 58 

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Page 
St. Peter's Church, Barclay and Church 

Sts., 1831 60 

St. George's Chapel in Beekman St., 1831 62 

The City Hall, built in 181 2 64 

Nathan Hale Statue 66 

The "Bread Line" 68 

Residence Clement C. Moore, 23rd St., 

and Qth Ave., 1831 70 

Grace & Trinity Churches at Rector St. 

and Broadway, 1831 72 

Broadway and Cortlandt St., 1853. ... 74 

No. 26 Broadway. 1848 76 

Chemical Bank, 1831 78 

Waddel Mansion, Cor. sth Ave., 3Sth St. 80 

Lord & Taylor's Stoie, 1826 82 

R. H. Macy's First store, 1853 84 

Broadway from 59th to 46th St., looking 

south in 1868 86 

Foot of Fulton St., 1828. . ._ 88 

Union Square looking south in 1820. . . yo 
Union Square in 1853 looking north. . . 92 
The old Reservoir on Sth Ave. — 40th 

to 42nd St 94 

The Bunker 'Mansion, 39 Broadway 

(Washington's home) 96 

Bank of Manhattan Co., Broadwav, 

Bowery & 17th St., 1823 '. . 98 

Broad St., 1790 loo 

W. & G. Post's Paint Store, 160 Water 

St., 1756 102 

10 



Page 
Colgate and Company in Dutch Street, 

1816 104 

Historic Claremont, Riverside Drive 

and 1 26th St 106 

New York's First Hospital 108 

St. Paul's Church and Broadway stages, 

1831 no 

Fulton Ferny established^ by Robert 

Fulton and William Cutting in 1814. . 112 

The Astor House in 1834 114 

St. Patrick's Cathedral at Mott and 

Prince Sts 116 

Bridge at Broadway and Fulton St., 

1868 118 

The Flat Iron Building, cor. of 23rd St. 

and Broadway 1 20 

Looking north, Broadway from Trinity 

Church 122 

Clinton Hall cor. Beekman and Nassau 

Sts., 1831 124 

The Poe Cottage 126 

Washington's Headquarters, the Jumel 

Mansion 128 

First Home of Borden's Condensed 

Milk Co., Hudson St., 1S60. _. 130 

Beginning of the Traffic Squad in 1868. 132 
Gramercy Park, Residence Cyrus W. 

Field ._ 134 

A Modem Ocean Steamship 136 

The Merchants' Exchange, 1831 138 

II 



Page 
Steamboat Wharf, Whitehall St., show- 
ing U .S. Barge Office and pier, etc. , 1 83 1 1 40 
Chuich of the Ascension in Canal St., 

1831 142 

General Theological Seminary, 21st St., 

between 9th and loth Aves 144 

A Modern Sound Steamer between 

New York and Boston 146 

Dr. Tyng's Chapel, Madison Ave., 42nd 

St., 1864. 148 

Statue of Liberty 150 

Wall St., looking west to Trinity 

Church, 1796 152 

Equitable Building, Broadway 154 

Our New Municipal Building 156 

Cathedral of St. John the Divine 158 

New York Hippodrome, 6th Ave., bet. 

43rd and 44th Sts 160 

Famous Retail Establishments: B. 
Altman & Co., Franklin Simon & 
Co., John Wanamaker, R. H. Macy 
& Co., Lord & Taylor, A. Jaeckel & 
Co., Gimbel Brothers, Best & Co., 
Mark W. Cross Co., Arnold & Hearn, 
Stern Bros., etc., etc. , etc. ; also Public 
Buildings, Hotels, Depots, etc. . . 162-288 

The Chamber of Commerce 170 

Printing House Square, i860 172 

Grant's Tomb, Riverside Drive and 

123rd St 176 

12 



Page 

Broadway bet. Barclay St. and Park 

Place. 1831 180 

Broadway from No. I to Rector St., 

182s 182 

Where Stanford White Lived 186 

Leonard Jerome's House, First home of 

the Union League Club, i860 188 

Corner Fifth Ave. and 23rd St 192 

A. T. Stewart's residence, cor. 5th Ave. 

and 34th St., 1873 196 

Hotel Manhattan, comer Madison Ave. 

and 42nd St 198 

. Broadway looking north, showing St. 

Paul's Church, etc 200 

The Steamer Washington Irving . . . . 202 
Block on Broadway bet. Cortlandt and 

Liberty Sts., 1914 204 

Lower Wall St. about 1790 212 

Murrav St., Dr. Mason's Church, 1825. 216 
Steinway and Sons first Piano Factory 

as it stood in Walker St.. 1858 218 

The Little Church Around the Corner 

on 28th St 224 

H. Lindenmeyr & Sons' old store 226 

U. S. Branch Bank, Wall St., two doors 

east of Nassau 232 

The old "Cow Catcher " cor. Broadway 

and 23rd St 234 

Penn. R. R. Station, 7th and 9th Aves. 

between 31st and 33rd Sts 246 

13 



Page 

New Home Roger's Peet & Co., 5th 

Ave. near 42nd St 248 

Madison Ave. and 40th St., in 1914, 

The Anderson Galleries 252 

Phenix Bank, 45WallSt., erected 1812. 2^4 

The Vanderbilt Hotel 258 

Arnold & Hearn's store in Canal St., 

1826 264 

U. S.Sub. Treasury, Wai:St 266 

Metropolitan Tower 268 

The Curb Market, Broad St 270 

Wall St. looking west, 191S 274 

The Stock Exchange 278 

Where Telephoning began 280 

College of the City of New York 282 

The Singer Building 284 



The Citv of New York 



CHAPTER 
The Beginning 

HE was born — no one knows where or 
when. He died — no one knows when 
or how. He comes into our knowl- 
edge on the quarterdeck of a ship bound 
for the North Pole. He goes out of our 
knowledge in a crazy boat manned by eight 
sick sailors." 

So writes one historian of Hendrik Hud- 
son, whose name is first identified with New 
York. He appears to have vanished into 
nothingness when his great work was done. 
Even his portraits and autograph are not 
generally believed tu be genuine. No one 
knows his age at the time he made his dis- 
coveries. That he was of mature years is 
shown by his havmg an eighteen-year old 
son. But whether he was a hale manner 



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of forty or a grizzled veteran of seventy has 
never been guessed. He was born, i t seems, 
in England, some time in the sixteenth cen- 
tury. His name was Henry Hodgson, but 
his Dutch employers later twisted the Eng- 
lish phraseology into "Hendrik Hudson." 
Hisfather and grandfather are supposed to 
have been London merchants. Hudson had 
made two attempts to find the Northwest 
passage, both unsuccessful. This caused the 
company to abandon further work along 
this line, and as an explorer Hudson seemed 
a failure. Justwhenit looked as if he would 
sink into oblivion the Dutch West India 
Company gavehim the opportunity_ of his 
life, and by his immortal voyage i n the 
Half Moon to the mouth of the great river 
which now bears his name, he achieved un- 
dying fame as one of the great discoverers 
of the world. _ 

For his perilous journey, in the frailest of 
frail crafts, Hudson received the munificent 
sura of $320. In case he never came back 
the directors of the company agreed to pay 
his widow a further sum of S80 in cash. 

The announcement of Hudson's discov- 
ery created intense interest in Europe, and 
other expeditions were hastily planned. 
Conspicuous among those who followed, 
was Adrian Block in the "Tiger". His 
vessel burned to the water's edge off the 
19 . 



ffl:Ss^ 




Battery, and as a result, his crew enjoyed 
the distinction of being the first white men 
to actually settle on Manhattan Island, 
albeit that was not their original intention. 
They landed at where 39 Broadway now is 
and erected some rude structures wherein 
to pass the Winter of 16 13-14. In some 
miraculous manner, considering the utter 
absence of tools, etc.. Block and his men 
contrived to build another boat called the 
"Restless", in which Block explored all the 
neighboring harbors and the Sound and 
located a trading place where Hartford now 
stands. Lower Broadway is, therefore, not 
only the scene of the first occupation by 
white men of Manhattan Island, but is also 
entitled to the credit of being the site of the 
first shipyard in New York. Curiously 
enough, a great transaltantic , steamship 
office now occupies the same corner. 

Notwithstanding Block's really wonderful 
and valuable contributions to the knowledge 
of a little known land, no particular honor 
has ever been accorded his discoveries, and 
but for the naming of an obscure island at 
the end of the Sound, the importance of his 
labors would probably have been long ago 
forgotten. One reason for this apparent 
neglect, may be found in the fact that no 
journal of his visit to New Netherland has 
come down to the present generation, and 



hence his own account of his discovenes and 
experiences is lost to us. He returned to 
Holland bearing peltries and other evidences 
of the wealth of the new country, and great- 
ly enhanced the value of Hudson's original 
discovery; he was instrumental in organ- 
izing the New Netherland Company. 

The Dutch being in a cold climate, were 
quick to realize the value of the furs, skins, 
etc., of this new country and in October of 
that yeai, the States-General issued letters 
patent to a company of Amsterdam mer- 
chants, granting them the exclusive privilege 
of trading with this new land for a period of 
three years — "That they shall be privileged 
exclusively to frequent or cause to be visited 
the newly discovered lands situate in Amer- 
ica between New France and Virginia, 
whereof the sea coast lies between the for- 
tieth and forty-fifth degree of latitude, now 
named Nieu Netherland." Reference was 
specifically made to this territory which was 
then spoken of for the hrst time as "Nieu 
Netherland". The tercentenary of this 
event is celebrated this year (1914). Under 
the charter just spoken of. New York en- 
tered formally into the commerce of the 
world. Trading between Old Amsterdam 
and the New continued to increase, although 
in a desultory fashion. 

It was not until some years later that 

23 



actual steps were taken to occupy the 
island and people it with permanent settlers. 
This was first accomplished by a contingent 
of Walloons who came from Holland in 1623 
under the patronage of some wealthy direct- 
ors of the newly formed West India Com- 
pany, to whom larpe grants of land were 
made conditional upon their being col nizei 
by fifty persons or more. They settled in 
Pavonia and along the shores of the Hudson, 
principally in the neighborhood of Albany 
and beyond. Two families and six men went 
up the Fresh River (Connecticut), landed 
where Hartford now stands and began to 
build Fort Good Hope. Another party was 
taken to the South River, founded Fort 
Nassau near the present Gloucester, N. J., 
and eighteen families, the largest band, set- 
tled Fort Orange, present city of Albany. 
These Walloons were not strictly speaking 
Holland Dutch, but came originally from 
Belgium. It was not until 1626 that the 
formal settlement and occupation of Man- 
hattan Island was accomplished by the 
Dutch. In that year Peter Minuit, repre- 
senting the West India Company, arrived 
and after some parley with the Indians, 
finally bought the site from them for some 
trinkets valued at 60 guilders, about S24.00. 
It seemed_ an insignificant matter at the 
time, but in view ( f the subsequent devel- 

25 



opments, it stands today as one of the most 
important and far reaching bu iness trans- 
actions ever recorded. Nevertheless, bo h 
the States-General and the West India 
Company vastly underrated the value of 
Amsterdam in New Netherland, as it was 
officially termed. Consequently, through 
no fault of the settlers themselves, the 
Dutch occupation of New York cann't by 
any stretch of friendly imagination be re- 
garded as financially successful. Between 
1626 and 1 664, the population scarcely num- 
bered ISOn, from which must be deducted 
a not inconsiderable proportion of English, 
French, Swedes, Germans, Portuguese, 
bondmen and slaves, leaving the actual 
Dutch population almost in the minoritj^ 
In this respect it may be compared with 
the settlement of the Pilgrims in Plymouth, 
which after ten years of struggle, contained 
less than 300 souls, while Boston and the 
neighboring_ settlements had risen to over 
50,000 within the same period. It was of 
the greatest importance, however, not so 
much for what it actually accomplished as 
for what was to follow as the result of these 
pioneer efforts. The remarkable personality 
of Governor Stuyvesant undoubtedly served 
to give a character and standing of such a 
high order socially and politically, as to 
place the Dutch regime for all time in an 



enviable position. He had served his coun- 
try well as a gallant soldier in the Low 
Countries and as Governor of Curacoa, and 
at the time of his advent in New York, wore 
a wooden leg with silver bands in place of 
the one he lost during an attack on the 
Portuguese island of St. Martin. He dress- 
ed with scrupulous care after the most ap- 
proved European fashions. He bore himself 
with a princely air and made a strikingly 
picturesque figure. Prior to this, he had 
married in Holland, Judith Bayard; his 
sister Anna married Nicholas Bayard, his 
wife's elder brother. The latter died soon 
after, and Stuyvesant was accompanied to 
the new home by his wife and his sister and 
the latter's three infant sons. All these were 
of the ruling classes in Holland, and were 
highly educated according to the standards 
of the day. Although he was harshly treat- 
ed by the West India Company for his sur- 
render of New York, he never lost his in- 
terest and afTection for the little settlement 
oyer which he once ruled. Returning to 
his farm in the Bouwerie in 1667, after his 
visit to Holland, he went into retirement 
and spent his remaining years in the inter- 
est of the Dutch Church, having erected a 
chapel near the house on his farm, beneath 
which he built a vault, where he was buried 
in February, 1672. His widow, dying in 
29 



i68 7, left the chapel to the Dutch Church. 
According to the terms of the bequest, the 
vault was preserved, although the chapel 
was allowed to fall into ruin. St. Marks 
was_ erected on the site in 1799. From time 
to time his descendants are laid beside him. 
In the wall of the Second Avenue side of 
this sacred edifice can be seen the stone 
tablet marking his last resting place which 
reads as follows: 

"In this vault lies buried 
Petrus Stuyvesant 
Late Captain-General and Governor in 
Chief of Amsterdam in New Nether- 
1 and, now called New York, and the 
Dutch West India Islands. Died Feb- 
ruary A. D. 1672, aged 80 years." 
On another page is shown a picture of 
this famous church at the corner of Second 
Avenue, lothto nth Streets, which is still 
attended by many of our oldest families. 
On his return from his last visit to Hol- 
1 and, of which we have spoken, Stuyvesant 
brought a pear tree which he planted on his 
farm. It survived and bore fruit for over 
two hundred years. It stood on the north- 
east comer of Third Avenue and 13th 
Street, where a tablet (on the wall of the 
buildmg now standing there) has been 
placed by the Holland Society of New York 
commemorating the site. When it finally 
succumbed to a particularly vicious ■=<'orm 
31 



in February, 1867, the whole town felt a 
personal loss. No other landmark was so 
universally known or loved. A small por- 
tion of this famous tree has been preserved 
and may be seen in the rooms of the New 
York Historical Society, 76th to 77th 
Streets, Central Park West. 

Disputes between the Dutch and English 
over territorial rights were ceaseless. It 
must be remembered that during the entire 
period of Dutch occupation, the English 
claimed that they were intruders, and that 
all the country between \'irginia and Maine 
belonged to them by right of Captain John 
Smith's discoveries. The Dutch claimed 
all the land lying between Cape Cod on 
the north, and the Delaware River on the 
south. Curiously enough a strange sur- 
vival of this period still remains in New 
York — the Hudson River is yet referred to 
by the people of the city as the "North" 
River, while as a matter of fact it lies direct- 
ly west, as the Delaware River was referred 
to as the " South''^— and this ancient desig- 
nation is the origin of our present curious 
localism. What we call the East River is 
not a river at all, but an arm of the sea, 
although it does lie directly east of the 
city, and is correctly designated geographi- 
cally. 

In 1664 matters between the Dutch and 
33 



tbe English reached a climax, and the Eng- 
lish seized the city, naming it after the 
Duke of York, brother to the reigning Eng- 
lish monarch, King Charles II. The English 
showed vast wisdom in ruling the new addi- 
tion to their possessions. With a few ex- 
ceptions most of the Dutch Burgomasters, 
schepens and other officials, who under the 
English rule became the aldermen and 
sheriffs, were continued in power, and on the 
whole, the administration of the English 
was a decided improvement over the policy 
of the Dutch West India Company. The 
loss of this colony made a final ending of 
the Corporation, which had already lost 
enormous sums in the enterprise; thence- 
forth, with the exception of about ten 
months in 1673, New York remained exclu- 
sively and continuously under the English 
until the Revolution. That the Dutch char- 
acter and Dutch influence has endured and is 
important, is a high tribute to the splendid 
character of the founders of our city, no less 
than to the general willingness of the Eng- 
lish to let the original settlers preserve their 
identity and to pursue their political and 
religious desires unmolested. Strangely 
enough the English who captured New 
York were evidently of a different mold 
from those who peopled New England. 
Liberahty and tolerance in religion and 
35 



politics was the first agreeable surprise 
which greeted the Dutch. The Protestant 
Episcopalian service was, of course, at once 
introduced. The chaplain of the English 
forces had, however, no proper place in 
which to celebrate divine service except in 
the Dutch Church in the Fort. It was very 
cordially arranged therefore that after the 
Dutch had ended their own morning wor- 
ship in the church, the British chaplain 
should, in the afternoon, read the Church 
of England service to the governor and the 
garrison. The same church, therefore, did 
duty for both. Later the English erected 
their own edifice — beloved old Trinity — in 
1696, and the Dutch continued to do just 
as they always had done. In fact, the Eng- 
lish did little or nothing to disturb the 
Dutch, and although in England the two 
governments were occasionally at war, the 
people themselves preserved a friendly 
feeling and found that in the new country, 
erstwhile enemies were not such bad neigh- 
bors, and each learned tolerance from the 
other. The same was true of the French 
Huguenots, another important element in 
these early days. The Dutch tongue was 
continued in churches for many years, but 
in a community where already no less than 
eighteen languages were spoken, it soon 
became a matter of public convenience to 

37 



adopt the language spoken by the major- 
ity — and English finally became the uni- 
versal tongue. 

On June 15th, 1665, the English organized 
their court, and established trial by jury. 
The city records were kept partly in Eng- 
lish, but chiefly in Dutch, until 1673. For 
many years, however, all ordinances, public 
notices, etc., were printed in three lan- 
guages — Dutch, French and English, in 
order to be understood by the average in- 
habitant. The French language enjoyed 
the distinction of being used otficially at 
times, together with the Dutch. 

From the very beginning. New York has 
always been a city totally diff'erent from any 
other in the Union, and in another and 
equally important respect, it is today what 
it has been from the very beginning — a cos- 
mopolitan town. There has never been a 
time from its inception to the present, 
when its population did not include repre- 
sentatives from every section of the globe. 
Writing in 1646 of his visit to New Nether- 
land in 1643, the French missionary — Rev. 
Isaac Joguessaid: "On the island Man- 
hate, and in its environs, there may well 
be four or five hundred men of different 
sects and nations; the Director General 
told me that there were men of eighteen 
different languages." 

39 



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First Hoino of T'nion Club, Broadway, 1831. 
(No. 34.6) opcL^J in 18J0. 



In that respect we have not only main- 
tained this ancient record, but have added 
to it materially. Its present huge foreign 
population is nothing at all unusual or new. 
Even that period of nearly one hundred and 
fifty years, during which practically no im- 
migration reached these shores whatever 
except from Great Britain, New York at- 
tracted what few foreigners were received. 

While the English at first showed great 
wisdom in the liberal treatment of the 
Dutch, the Duke of York soon caused a 
radical change in the administration of local 
affairs, and in a short time the Crown had 
assumed all the functions of government, 
and representatives of the people had no 
actual voice whatever. Naturally this gave 
rise to great dissatisfaction, but in 1683 
Governor Dongan, afterwards the Earl of 
Limerick, an Irish Catholic, a favorite of 
the King, secured a charter for the City of 
New York, granting some of the reforms 
demanded and introducing an assembly in 
which there was some real power exercised 
by the people. Here again we come upon 
an exhibition of New York's characteristic 
liberality. _ In the colonies at that time. 
Protestantism was considered not only essen- 
tial, but an actual condition of existence, 
and yet here we have a Catholic providing 
the first popular assembly in New York. 

41 



Charles 11 died in 1685 and the Duke of 
York succeeded. Almost his first act was 
to revoke the Dongan charter and abolish 
popular government. Two years later he 
decided to consolidate all the colonies into 
one Province under one governor. To carry 
out this plan Governor Andros, with head- 
quarters in Boston, was placed in supreme 
command. New York felt deeply slighted 
by this change, and its material prosperity 
was thought to be seriously threatened. In 
1689 however, England deposed King James 
who fled to France. Andros was placed in 
jail in Boston; William and Mary were pro- 
claimed the successors of James, and again 
a new order of affairs began for America, 
At this time occurred an event of the great- 
est importance — the martyrdom of Jacob 
Leislerand his son-in-law, Jacob Milbourne. 

Leisler was a merchant, born in Frank- 
fort, Germany, the son of a German clergy- 
man, and at the time of which we speak, 
enjoyed considerable prominence in the 
city. His farm was situated just west 
of the City Hall, his house being near the 
site of the present World Building. Frank- 
fort Street was subsequently named for his 
native city, and Jacob Street after his son- 
in-law. As I have already stated, the flight 
of King James and the imprisonment of 
Andros gave a great impetus all through 

43 





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the colonies for a larger and fuller measure 
of popular government. Nicholson, govern- 
or under King James_, had gone to Eng- 
land, and during the interval pending the 
arrival of the new governor, to be ap- 
pointed by King William, there arose in 
New York an emphatic demand for a party 
devoted to this greater freedom. 

In response to a general request, Leisler 
consented to lead this popular party, and 
in the absence of any direct representative 
of the Crown, assumed control of the gov- 
ernment. He acted under a letter received 
from King WilUam addressed to Nicholson 
— "or in his absence to stick as for the time 
bein^, take care for preserving the peace and 
administrating^ the laws of our said Province 
of Ne^a York in America." This letter was 
delivered to Leisler as the successor of 
Nicholson, who was then in England. It 
bore date of July 30, 1689, and ordered the 
recipient to take command of New York. It 
was from the authority of this letter that 
Leisler took control and based all his sub- 
sequent actions. 

Nicholson having the ear of the King, 
chose to place an entirely wrong construc- 
tion on all the acts of Leisler, and to im- 
pugn him with personal motives, and as- 
cribed his activities to a desire to add to 
his own personal following. Unfortunately, 

45 



the King believed this, and in due time ap- 
pointed Col. William Sloughter governor, 
who sailed from England in 1690. Upon 
his arrival in New York, the enemies of 
Leisler — the aristocratic party, headed by- 
Bayard, Philipse, Van Cortlandt, and other 
representatives of the moneyed class, seized 
Leisler and his son-in-law, and caused them 
to be put to death by hanging, the first and 
only men ever to suffer the death penalty in 
New York for a political offense. The gal- 
lows stood about wherethe present site of 
the Tribune Office now is, on Leisler's own 
farm. Here perished the_ first Governor of 
New York who drew his power directly 
from the people. 

Two years later the son of Jacob Leisler, 
prosecuted the appeal which had been de- 
nied his father, secured an order for 
the restoration of his confiscated estate 
and in 1698 obtained an act from the Eng- 
lish Parliament which completely rehabil- 
itated the dead man's memory. This act 
cancelled the judgment of the court in 
New York, sustained Leisler's course as 
governor, and declared that he had been 
confirmed in the power that the people 
had bestowed upon him by the King's 
letter of July 30, 1689. Three years later 
the bodies of Leisler and Milbourne were 
taken from their resting places, and after 

47 




Trinity Churi 
Torn down in IS-lo for present 



lying in state in the City Hall, were, with 
impressive ceremonies, reinterred in a burial 
ground which is now Exchange Place. Un- 
fortunately, no man knows their present 
sepulchre. A monument to his memory 
was erected in New Rochelle, N. Y.,in 1913, 
by the Daughters of the Revolution, but 
none has yet been placed in the city itself. 
New York prospered under the admin- 
istration of William_ and Mary. During 
the next half century its population steadily 
increased each decade, and all through 
Colonial days it continued to_ wax and grow 
strong. It retained its original cosmopol- 
itan character; swarthy men in picturesque 
gari3 adorned the streets, and denizens from 
all parts of the world made up its popula- 
tion. Here are some interesting figures 
showing its growth. 

Years Population 

1698 4.937 

1703 4.375 

1712 5.841 

1723 7.248 

1731 8,622 

1737 9.059 

1746 II. 717 

1749 13.294 

1756 13.046 

1771 21,862 

1774 22,750 

49 




The Woolworth Building, 
occupying a block on 
Broadway between Park 
Place and Barclay Street. 



Years Population 

1786 23.614 

1790 33.131 

1800 60,529 

1810 96.373 

1820 123,706 

*i830 197-092 

* This year New York overtook Phila« 
delphia in population. 

New York in the Revolution 

The history of the City of New York 
up to the Revolution is, of course, more or 
less familiar to us all. It is not our purpose 
to follow in detail this period, but two 
events of greater importance than the 
others deserve to be recorded. 

The ftrst of these is the trial of John Peter 
Zengerin i735. who essayed the first inde- 
pendent newspaper in America, and as a 
result found himself in serious difficulties 
with the authorities. The columns of his 
paper, "The New York Weekly Journal," 
teemed with bitter criticisms of the newly- 
appointed governor, William Cosby, and 
his council, who retaliated by ordering the 
arrest of Zenger and the burning of several 
numbers of the Journal in Wall Street, 
opposite Federal Hall. From prison. 
Zenger continued to attack the ruling 
powers, and the populace became wildly 

SI 



excited over the situation. The result of 
his trial was a verdict of "Not guilty," 
which was greeted with many demonstra- 
tions of popular satisfaction. This estab- 
lished once and for all freedom of the press 
in the Colonies, and to John Peter Zenger, 
a German, the republic owes this inestima- 
ble boon. 

The second event was resistance to the 
Stamp Act in 1765. The city as well 
as the rest of the colonies had contributed 
its quota of money and men to the expense 
of the French and Indian wars, and had 
otherwise borne its full share of public 
expense. Consequently, when the news of 
the passage of the Stamp Act taxing the 
colonies a second time for the same expenses 
was received, a great storm of indignation 
arose. Associations sprang up rapidly in 
every colony under the name of "The Sons 
of Liberty." In New York the headquarters 
of the Sons was in Martling's Restaurant, 
and a liberty pole was erected on the Com- 
mon, now City Hall Park, in 1766. Bad 
feeling between the citizens and the King's 
troops steadily increased. Three times this 
year the troops cut down the Liberty Pole, 
but the fourth pole was held in place until 
1770, when a party of the Sixteenth Regi- 
ment cut it down. As the result of this out- 
rage, a fight occurred between the King's 

53 



troops and the citizens, in which one of the 
latter was killed, three wounded and many- 
injured. This incident is claimed as the 
first conflict of the War of the Revolution, 
and is referred to historically as the "Battle 
of Golden Hill." It occurred about where 
is nowthecorner of John and WiUiam streets. 

Events moved rapidly after this through- 
out the entire English possessions in North 
America, culminating in the Battle of Lex- 
ington, which opened the Revolution in 
reality. When the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was read in New York, the citi- 
zens proceeded to Bowling Green, tore down 
the leaden statue of George III and melted 
it into bullets. 

During the war New York was occupied 
by the British almost from the first to the 
last, and suffered niore in proportion than 
any other single city or section of the coun- 
try. While the city itself was free from 
actual conflict, yet many engagements were 
fought in its vicinity, one in particular — the 
Battle of Long Island — in which the British 
troops very nearly drove Washington into 
the hands of Sir William Howe. A dense 
fog. however, enabled Washington to get 
his army across the river, where Aaron Burr 
met and conducted them successfully along 
the west side of the city to Harlem Heights 
almost under the eyes of the British troops. 

55 



A few days later the Battle of Harlem 
Heights was fought. In both of these 
engagements a large number of prisoners 
were taken by the British, who were after- 
wards confined in churches, sugar houses, 
the old Hall of Records, and other inade- 
quate buildings. Some were taken to old 
hulks in the Wallabout. Many died of 
starvation and disease contracted in these 
places. The Martyrs' monument in Trinity 
churchyard is erected to their memory. 

The long occupation of the British left 
the city desolate and discouraged. A disas- 
trous conflagration in 1776 almost leveled 
it to the ground. _ In addition to the rigors 
of war, this calamity caused the inhabitants 
acute suffering, and to make matters worse 
if possible, a second fire in 1778 destroyed 
almost the few remaining houses. 

Upon the evacuation by the British in 
1783, therefore, it seemed that ruin and 
devastation could have gone no further. 
The citizens of New York were naturally 
in a greatly depressed frame of mind, and 
it looked for the moment as if there was no 
possible hope for the future. With the 
departure of the last British boat, however, 
and the entrance into the city of the Amer- 
ican troops with General Washington, com- 
mander-in-chief, Hamilton, Lincoln, Knox 
and other victorious generals of the Conti- 

57 




The statue of George III which stood in 

Bowling Green. 

Destroyed during Revolution and melted 

into bullets. 



nental Army, the citizens regained their cour- 
age and viewed the future cheerfully. Within 
a short time Washington was elected first 
president of the newly formed republic, and 
New York was selected as the Federal 
Capital. This inaugural, fraught with so 
much importance, is worthy of a descrip- 
tion from an eye-witness: 

Mrs. Eliza Susan Morton Quincy, wife 
of Josiah Quincy thus describes the event: 

"I was on the roof of the first house in 
Broad Street, which belonged to Captain 
Prince, the father of one of my school com- 
panions, and so near to Washington that I 
could almost hear him speak. The windows 
and the roofs of the houses were crowded, 
and in the streets the throng was so dense 
that it seemed as if one might literally walk 
on the heads of the people. The balcony of 
the hall was in full view of this assembled 
multitude. In the centre of it was placed 
a table with a rich covering of red velvet, 
and upon this, on a crimson velvet cushion, 
lay a large and elegant Bible. This was all 
the paraphernalia for the august scere. 
After taking the oath of office, a signal was 
given by raising a liag upon the cupola of 
the Hall for a general discharge of the artil- 
lery of the Battery. _ All the bells in the city 
rang out a peal of joy, and the assembled 
multitude sent forth a universal shout. The 

59 




Old St. Peter's Church, cor. Barclay and 

Church Streets. 

First Roman Catholic Church ia New York City. 



President again bowed to the people and 
then retired from the scene such as the proud- 
est monarch never enjoyed. Many enter- 
tainments were given, both public and 
private, and the city was illuminated in the 
evening." 

A statue of Washington, erected under 
the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce 
of the State of New York by public sub- 
scription, as he appeared taking the oath of 
office, has been placed on the steps of the 
Sub-Treasury building, site of the old 
Federal Hall in Wall Street facing Broad, 
commemorates this occurrence. 

As President, Washington lived in the 
Franklin House in Franklin Square, corner 
of Cherry Street (a picture of which is 
shown on another page) during the first 
period of his occupancy. The site is now 
covered by one of the piers of the Brooklyn 
Bridge. The neighborhood at that time was 
one of the social centres of New York, and 
contained the residences of many well known 
families. In the Franklin House, General 
and Mrs. Washington held public receptions 
in the afternoon, in accordance with the 
custom of the day; these receptions usually 
ended when the General's bedtime cam.e, 
about ten o'clock. A little later when Fort 
George and the battery which had been 
built just outside of the fort were removed. 
6r 




Old St. George's Chapel in Beekman St., 1831. 
Now site of Chas. A. Schieren Co.'s Belting House. 



a Government House was erected on the 
same site in which Washington was to re- 
side, but the capital being moved to Phila- 
delphia in 1790, he never occupied it. He 
moved to the Bunker Mansion at No. 39 
Broadway, where he remained until his 
removal to Philadelphia. 

With the final adoption of the Federal 
Constitution, the several cities began to 
forge ahead, and in 1800 New York City 
with its 60,000 inhabitants may be fairly 
said to have started on its career. At the 
same time Philadelphia had about 105,000 
and Boston 80,000. Most of the people in 
New York lived below Fulton Street, and 
Greenwich Village (now the 9th Ward) was 
regarded as a summer resort, not to be 
visited for a stay of less than two weeks at 
least. 

New York in the Nineteenth 
Century 

After the removal of the capital to Phila- 
delphia, New York settled down to begin 
that career of commercial importance which 
marked it at the beginning and has been its 
dominant feature ever since. 

The country itself may have been said 
to have been in that happy state where 
it was making no new history. The city 
of New York was small enough to be com- 

63 



pact, and yet large enough to give evidence 
of its coming cosmopolitanism. The main 
residential section was below Fulton Street, 
which at that time did not extend west of 
Broadway. The merchants to a large ex- 
tent lived over their stores. _ The wealthy 
families maintained luxurious country 
places along the East River and on the 
banks of the Hudson. Their imported Lon- 
don carriages and livery and large retinues 
of servants were the feature of the social life 
in New York, and were reminiscent of the 
Colonial days. 

Notwithstanding the fact that all men 
were supposed to be free and equal after the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution, slav- 
ery was not abolished in New York City 
until almost a half century later. The lead- 
ing social centres of New York at that time 
were clustered around the Battery, which 
was then and is today a most agreeable sec- 
tion of the city. There are still standing on 
State Street the houses of Roger Morris and 
Archibald Gracie, which are relics of those 
days. The Battery had a sea wall extending 
along its front and presented a beautiful 
shore to the waters of the Bay. It was 
thickly wooded with poplars and elms, and 
was a highly fashionable promenade during 
the summer_ season. During the War of 
1812 Fort Clinton was erected at its extreme 
6S 




. Nathan Hale Statue. 
Broadway side of City Hall Park. 



southern end and was connected with the 
main land by a wooden bridge. After the 
war the fort became Castle Garden (1824), 
and for many years was a place of enter- 
tainment. It is, perhaps, most vividly 
recalled by old New Yorkers as the scene 
of Jenny Lind's great triumph under the 
management of P. T. Barnuni in 1855, and 
later the emigrant station until 1891. To- 
day it is known as the Aquarium. 

Other centres of social life were lower 
Broadway from No. i up to Rector Street, 
on the corner of which stood Grace Church 
before it moved up town. Greenwich Street 
for two or three blocks north of the Battery 
was known as "Millionaires Row," where 
were the town residences of Brockholst 
Livingston, John Johnston, Robert Lenox, 
Adam Norrie and other distinguished mer- 
chants of that day. 

On the east side of the city, along Wall, 
Pine, Hanover Square, Pearl and Cherry 
streets, were the honies of many well-known 
families of the richer class. The Walton 
House, which stood on Pearl Street, is still 
recalled as the most luxurious and hand- 
some residence in this or any other city at 
that time. It was torn down to make way 
for the Brooklyn Bridge. 

The geographical formation of the island 
remained practically what it was at the 
67 



time of Hudson's first discovery, with the 
exception of a few roads leading to the in- 
terior, but as a matter of fact, the whole 
eastern seaboard of the colonies had little 
more conveniences in 1800 than were avail- 
able two hundred years earlier. The inven- 
tion of steam had not been introduced, and 
communication with the interior was slow 
and burdensome. Mail coaches left regu- 
larly two or three times each week — Albany 
and Philadelphia being three-day trips and 
Boston six days. 

The site now in the course of development 
of New York's civic centre, and of which the 
new court house will be the main building, 
embraces a section that was formerly a huge 
pond, in some places possessing a depth of 
over 90 feet. It was on this pond that John 
Fitch gave the first demonstration of a 
steamboat. An attempt was made to drain 
the pond; part of the work was undertaken. 
A canal was cut through the swampy land 
of Lispenard meadows to the west, drain- 
ing into the Hudson. This, however, made 
it more of a menace to health than before 
and ten years later the pond was fiUedin 
and the canal turned into the street which 
now bears its name. 

Skirting the shore on the west, the first 
habitation outside of the city was a cluster 
of houses beginning at about Fourth Street, 

69 



which was then called Greenwich Village. 
Through Greenwich Village ran a limpid 
stream which had its rise somewhere about 
Madison Square in Twenty-third Street, 
flowed along Broadway through Fourteenth 
Street and diverged to the southwest. The 
whole of Greenwich Village was of a particu- 
larly sandy nature, forming a natural drain- 
age system. On this account it seemed to be 
free from the awful scourges of yellow fever 
which periodically visited New York, and 
it was the custom during such epidemics for 
most of the families who could afford it to 
flee to Greenwich Village. The epidemic 
of 1822 was of such severity that all of the 
banks and large houses erected buildings 
there in which to live and carry on business, 
from which fact Bank Street gets its name. 
This exodus lasted for several months, and 
during this period most of the important 
business of New York was transacted in 
Greenwich Village. The village was con- 
nected to New York by a stage line which 
ran once or twice a day; no one thought 
of paying a visit to a friend in Greenwich 
Village except with a view of staying at 
least two weeks, and trunks and bandboxes 
always accompanied them. 

The nineteenth century, therefore, holds 
for New York City a wonderful record of 
achievement, during which time the founda- 

71 




Grace and Triniiv C 

Brua.hvay. 
Grace CLurch now at Broadway and 10th Street. 



tions of our present greatness was laid. It 
is the purpose of this narrative to give but 
the bare facts in the history of this period, 
which mixes the bitter with the sweet. At 
the very beginning of the century New 
York records the loss of two of its greatest 
statesmen in the death of Alexander Ham- 
ilton, who fell on July 7, 1804, the victim 
in a duel with Aaron Burr, which marked 
the latter for all future time a ruined man. 

The death of Hamilton was regarded asa 
National bereavement and his funeral in 
NewYork was the most remarkable ever 
seen in the city. This incident ended duel- 
ling in the North. 

Three years later, on August 7. 1807, the 
first attempt of steam navigation on the 
Hudson River was made by Robert Fulton 
in the "Clermont," called by the doubting 
ones "Fulton's Folly." The present plan 
of our streets and avenues north of Houston 
Street is the result of the work of a Com- 
mission appointed in 1807, who completed 
their labors in 18 11. 

The War of 181 2 called a temporary 
halt on New York's rapid develop- 
ment, and for a time paralyzed 
trade and social life completely. Forts 
were erected at several points along' 
the North River, at the foot of 
Gansevoort and Hubert streets, and off the 

73 



Battery which I have just described. In the 
northern part of the city MacGowan's Pass 
and clear across to Harlem Heights numer- 
ous blockhouses were erected, as it was 
thought the British would enter by way of 
Canada. In the midst of all these prepara- 
tions peace was declared and the treaty 
signed at Ghent, and once more the city 
settled down to the development and trans- 
action of its legitimate affairs. In 1812 the 
present City Hall was completed and occup- 
ied. Two yea rs later the city took great com- 
mercial strides in the development of packet 
service to all parts of the globe, beginning 
with the famous Black Ball Line between 
New York and Liverpool in 18 17. The 
State Legislature in this year approved of 
the construction of the Erie Canal, 363 
miles in length, connecting the Great Lakes 
with the sea, which feat — the wonder of the 
age — was accomplished Oct. 26, 1825. The 
first horse railroad was set afoot in 1831, 
connecting the centre of the city with 
Harlem, and followed a few years later by 
the establishment of the steam railroads. 
In the middle of the thirties New York was 
well established in its coinmercial progress 
and had passed to the front in population 
by 1830, leaving Philadelphia behind to take 
second place for the first time. It boasted 
of six play houses the most frequented of 

75 



which was the Park Theatre on Park Row 
estabhshed in 1798, and one visitor de- 
scribed the city at this time as the gayest 
place in America. And amid this great 
wave of prosperity came its greatest set- 
back the Great Fire of 183S, which de- 
stroyed 600 buildings causing a loss of 20 
million dollars. 

It is doubtful if any other city ever suf- 
fered a catastrophe of such magnitude and 
yet achieved such an astonishing recovery. 
Not only was it rebuilt in a remarkably 
short period but the new buildings were of 
a class distinctly superior to the old type 
and greatly enhanced its appearance. The 
pi ^tureof Wall Street in i84Sshownelsewhere 
gives a good idea of this great improvement. 
This unexpected blow, however, led to the 
panic of 1836-7 affecting every part of the 
land. All insurance companies suspended 
payment and 260 business houses failed 
for over a hundred millions, and the 23 
lianks in this city closed their doors. 
Within a year New York was again on the 
road to recovery and many changes for the 
better grew out of the ruins of the great 
conflagration, one of far reaching and great 
importance being the introduction of Croton 
Water into the city in 1842 as it was the 
lack of water which proved so disastrous in 
the fire of 1835. 

77 



The press of the day must also be men- 
tioned and at the time of which we speak 
the leading newspapers were the Commer- 
cial Advertiser, established in 1793, now 
represented in the "Globe", the Evening 
Post begun in 1801, The Sun with its 
initial number on Sept. 3, 1833, changed 
the size of its paper from the large cumber- 
some sheet of its contemporaries to a small 
quarto and instituted the present newsboy- 
system of delivering papers to the public, 
a custom quickly followed by others. On 
May 6, 1835, the Herald appeared, estab- 
lished by James Gordon Bennett and on 
April 10, 1 841, the Tribune entered with 
Horace Greely. While the Times followed 
in Sept. 1851, and the World four years 
later. 

In 1837 Samuel F. B. Morse perfected his 
invention of the telegraph but it was not 
until 1843 that the Federal Governemnt 
granted him sufficient funds to prove its 
value and in 1846 New York (the home of 
the inventor) was connected with Philadel- 
phia and Washington by telegraph. The 
building of railroads was pushed vigorously 
during this period and immense sums in- 
vested. Quick returns were expected but 
not realized, and resulted in the panic of 
1857 which was felt in every part of the 
nation. Banks again suspended payment 

79 



and resulted in 5000 failures with a loss of 
three hundred millions of dollars. Arisinp^ 
from the stupor of this set-back New York 
again went forward only to be retarded 
shortly by the Civil Y/ar, but the develop- 
ment of the steamship, telegraph and rail- 
way went steadily on, placing it in its pres- 
ent supremacy. At the opening of the 
Civil War New York had as its Mayor, 
Fernando Wood, an unscrupulous politician 
who sent a message to the Common Council 
for New York to secede from the Union. 
The heart of _ New York, however, beat 
true to the Union. In July, 1863, the draft 
riots occurred, the most serious of lawless 
outbreaks since the Astor Place Riot of 
1849. It was not until tv^^o million dollars 
worth of property had been destroyed and 
more than twelve hundred rioters killed 
that the situation came under control. To 
offset that side of our history we must point 
tothe two hundred and ten million dollars 
raised by the Union League Club of New 
York for the government to suppress the 
rebellion. New York men also furnished 
the money for building the iron clad " Moni- 
tor" the saviour of the Union fleet. 

The close of the Civil War brought a 
change of great local interest in New York — 
the passing of the Old Volunteer Fire De- 
partment for the paid system of today es- 




Lord & Taylor's store in Catharine Street, 1826. 



tablished in 1865. The fascinating and 
heroic tale of the old volunteers is a story 
of its own. 

In 1868 the elevated system was com- 
menced, and completed through the efforts 
of Cyrus W. Field and Jay Gould in 1880. 
Three years later saw the greatest 
bridge in the world stretched across 
the East River, the "Brooklyn Bridge." 

In 1898 greater New York was estab- 
lished, giving New York City an area of 
318 square miles. Its present immense 
population, its new bridges, subways, river 
tunnels and great buildings, are elsewhere 
described and pictured in this book, and 
are of fascinating interest, and will supple- 
ment and complete this altogether too 
brief a sketch. 

In the pages which follow we have added 
much general information regarding the 
city, so that a visit to the big town will be 
made more interesting, and more under- 
standable. New York is so huge and 
changes so rapidly that even its own people 
have hard work to remember how certain 
streets looked even a few years ago. We 
are certain, however, that a perusal of this 
work will amply repay any person who 
visits the town and desires to retain some 
lastii^.g impressions of his e.xperience. 

83 




1 he first Department Stoie, R. H. Macy, 185J. 
6tb Avenue near 14th Street. 



In New York — 

340 million people travel every year in 
the subways, and over 250 million in the 
surface cars. 

A passenger train arrives every 52 sec- 
onds. 

There is a wedding every 13 minutes. 

Four new business firms start up every 
42 minutes. 

A new building is erected every 51 min- 
utes. 

350 new citizens come to make their 
homes every day. 

4 transient visitors arrive every second. 

A child is born every 6 minutes. 

30 deeds and 27 mortgages are filed for 
record every business hour of the day. 

Every 48 minutes a ship leaves the har- 
bor. 

Every night Si, 250, 000 is spent in the 
hotels and restaurants for dining and wining. 

An average of 21,000 persons pass daily 
through the corridors of the largest hotel. 

7.500 people are at work daily for thj 
city in one building — the Municipal Build- 
ing. 

300,000 pass the busiest points along 
Broadway each day. 

More than 1,000,000 immigrants land 
every year. 

85 



Every man, woman and child is allowed 
105 gallons of water a day. 

4,000 people are arrested every day. 

11,000,000 matches are given away daily 
in the tobacco shops and hotel cigar stands. 

The telephone centrals have 586,000 calls 
each hour. 
_ There are 1,090 churches of all denomina- 
tions. 

$2,500,000 is spent annually in mainte- 
nance of public charities. 

There are two fires every hour — yet the 
average annual fire loss is less than $5,- 
000.000. 

The Fire Department answers 233 false 
alarms every daj'. 

20,000 people spend all their working 
hours underground. 

There are 50,000 night workers. 

2,000 pupils, representing 27 different 
nationalities, are registered at one school 
in the East Side. 

New York City, in the course of the year, 
carries the names of 97,oiS persons upon its 
p:iyrolls. Of these aVjout i5-000 are tem- 
porary employees, leaving 82,015 regulars. 

Probably no less than two other persons 
are dependent upon the earnings of each 
city employee, making a total of nearly 
300,000 persons whose support comes out 
of the city treasury. 

87 



The Board of Education has the longest 
payroll, with 25,800 names on its list. The 
Police Department has 10,640 employees, 
the Street Cleaning Department 7,002, the 
Fire Department 5.14S. the Department of 
Water Supply, Gas and Electricity 3.330, 
the Department of Health 2,961, the De- 
partment of Public Charities 2,898, and the 
Department of Docks and Ferries 2,601. 

New York City Has— 

More Irish than Dublin. 

More Italians than Rome. 

A German population twice the total 
population of Bremen. More than Leipzig 
and Frankfort-on-Main combined. 

113 public parks, varying in size from 4 
square yards to 1,756 acres. 

More active club women than London 
and Paris combined. 

One block in which more than 5.000 peo- 
ple live and on less than 4 acres of ground. 

More Austrians and Hungarians than in 
Trieste and Fiume combined. _ 

A Jewish population one-seventh of its 
total, and their number equals the popula- 
tion of Maine. 

An annual budget greater than that of 
any other five American cities combined — ■ 
in all about one-third as much as Uncle Sam 
spends to govern the nation. 
89 



More people living in its confines than in 
fourteen of our States and Territories. 

The record for being the greatest pur- 
chasing municipality in the world, not ex- 
cepting London. 

More than one-half the population of the 
State of New York. 

The majority of the banking power of the 
United States, which has two-thirds of the 
world's banking power. 

An annual population increase of more 
than 100,000, besides its own product of 
births. 

New York City has 1562 miles of surface, 
subway and elevated railways, operating 
8514 passenger coaches carrying daily 
4,849,012 passengers on cash fares, and 
419.799 on transfers. 

A density of population (in Manhattan) 
of 96,000 per square mile, six times that of 
any other city in the United States. Chi- 
cago, the next largest city, has 10,789 per 
square mile. 

Within a radius of 30 miles a population 
of 7,000,000 people, one-fourteenth of the 
population of the United States. 

A population greater than the total popu- 
lation of the United States when Washing- 
ton was inaugurated. 

A. gross debt equaling the interest-bearing 
National debt. 

91 



Assessed valuation representing one- 
fifteenth the total estimated wealth of the 
United States. 

Sufficient space to accommodate 25,000,- 
000 people if the population were evenly- 
distributed. 

A central hotel district, with a radius of 
less than half a mile, which contains 72 
hotels, with a capacity for more than 20,000 
guests. 

More than $205,000,000 invested in ho- 
tels. Their yearly expenditure is $29,000,- 
000 and they employ 31,000 persons of all 
nationalties. 

170 buildings that are 10 stories and over 
in height. 

Five office buildings, all within five 
blocks, worth $45,500,000, within which . 
28,500 people are at work daily. 

Public libraries that are made use of by 
5,000,000 more people annually than those 
of any other city in the world. 

A new water supply system, now build- 
ing, which will cost $300,000,000. It will 
eventually supply 1,000,000,000 gallons of 
water daily. 

Famous Central Park, which cost origi- 
nally $5,000,000, and whose construction 
and maintenance to date has aggregated 
$25,000,000. The land is now worth $200,- 
000,000. 

93 



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Spent $250,000,000 in the last 10 years 
in building underground and under water 
railroads. 

Two terminals — the Grand Central and 
Pennsylvania Railroad's new stations and 
tunnel under the Hudson — which cost over 
$200,000,000 — four times as much as would 
be required to duplicate all the railroads of 
the entire European kingdom of Denmark^. 

A value of real estate reckoned at $3,391,- 
771.862. 

Average daily transactions at the New 
York Clearing House totaling $253,000,000. 

A total value of imports at the port of 
New York of $940,000,000 annually. Ex- 
ports, $775,000,000 annually. 

A population twice that of the six largest 
States in the Union (after Texas), whose 
combined area is 754,665 square miles — 
3,200 times that of New York City. 

A total population which, if divided into 
smaller communities, would make 10 cities 
the size of Pittsburgh. 

1,500,000 more people than in the entire 
State of Missouri. 

A population greater than any Western 
State, any Middle State (except Illinois), 
or any Southern State. 

A population exceeded by only three 
States in the Union — New York, Pennsyl- 
vania and Illinois. 

95 



A population which equals the combined 
population of Florida, Georgia and Ala- 
bama. 

10,640 men in its Police Department. 

5,145 men in its Fire Department. 

Savings bank deposits aggregating 5970,- 
000,000 — about S22S for each man, woman 
and child in the city. 

Public schools attended by 900,000 pu- 
pils, in which 18,200 teachers are employed. 

It spends Sioo.ooo daily for ice cream. 

Counting two glasses to the pint, New 
York consumes daily, all the year round, an 
average of 14,000,000 glasses of beer, at a 
cost of $700,000. Including the imported 
brands, 10,000,000 barrels of beer are sold 
in the Metropolis annually, each barrel 
containing 31^2 gallons. 

The City's soda water check amounts to 
J6oo,ooo for each 24 hours. This means, 
12,000,000 glasses. 

Greater New York's Total As- 
sessed valuation $7,800,180,532 

The assessment tolls, 19 15. show the total 
assessed valuation (tentative) for all the 
five boroughs of Greater New York to be 
$7,800,180,532. The following table, which 
includes both privately owned real estate 
and that of corporations, shows the figures 
for each borough: 

97 



Boroughs. 19IS. 

Manhattan $4,932,364,260 

Bronx 656,310, 771 

Brooklyn 1,628,268,357 

Queens 500,226,299 

Richmond 83,010,845 

Totals for all boroughs. . . $7,800,180,532 

How to See the City 

Within late years the business of showing 
strangers over the town in specially con- 
structed Motor Busses, has grown to be an 
important industry. All things considered, 
it saves much time and effort, is vastly more 
satisfactory, and in the end proves cheaper. 
Competent lecturers accompany each trip, 
and anyone who has traveled much, will 
admit that a great deal of the pleasure of a 
trip depends upon having the different 
places properly described. 

There are several companies, any one of 
which is sure to be satisfactory and the 
points of interest they have selected is the 
result of close acquaintance with the city. 

There are two routes generally selected — 
one through the lower part of the city be- 
low 23d Street, and the other north, or up- 
town. That through the lower part of the 
city gives a comprehensive view from Madi- 
son Square down Fifth Avenue and Broad- 

99 



way to Bowling Green, from which point a 
fine view is had of the Bay, the Statue of 
Liberty, the Aquarium, and the Battery. 
The financial district, Stock Exchange, the 
Bowery, Chinatown, the Italian and He- 
brew quarters and Brooklyn Bridge are 
seen on the way. The lecturer will call out 
the different buildings as the car rolls along 
giving a brief history of each. Some of the 
principal features of this down-town trip 
are as follows: 

Brooklyn Bridge 

BuildinginwhichLafayettewasweIcomedini824 

Bowling Green 

Bowery 

Burial place of Alexander Hamilton and Robt. 
Fulton 

Bridge of Sighs 

Building in which Washington bade farewell 
to his officers 

Burial place of Charlotte Temple and Char- 
lotte Cushman 

Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty 

Burial place of Capt. James Lawrence: "Don't 
Give Up the Ship." 

Church where ^^'ashington attended services 

Criminal Court Building 

Chamber of Commerce 

Castle Garden 

Consolidated Stock Exchange 

Church containing largest ecclesiastical oil 
painting in the world 



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Cotton Exchange 

Curb Market 

City Post Office 

City Hall 

Columbia Univ^ersity Club 

Coffee Exchange 

Cooper Union 

Church attended by Lord Rogers 

Church to the memory of the first American 
Foreign Missionary 

Chinatown 

Custom House Building 

Chemical National Bank (known to the bank- 
ing world as "Old Bullion") 

Eye and Ear Hospital 

East Side Tenements (barracks) 

Empire Building 

Ellis Island 

First Street paved in New York 

First Street laid out in New York 

Five Points 

Fence from which busts of George III were 
removed. 

Fire boat "New Yorker" 

Funeral Urn over 2000 years old 

Flat Iron Building 

First Presbyterian Church in New York 

Gramercy Park (only private park in New York) 

Statue of Admiral Farragut 

St. Mark's Church 

Statue of Nathan Hale 

Sub-Treasury 

Site of building where Washington's Inaugural 
Ball took place 

103 



Site of Battle of Golden Hill 

Site Fort Amsterdam, 1619 

Statue of George Washington 

Stopping place of Jenny Lind 

Site where first "New York Girl" was born 

Singer Building 

Site of Liberty Pole 

Statue of Abraham de Peyster 

Scene of Draft Riots 

Scene of the S20,ooo,ooo fire in 1835 

Madison Square Presbyterian Church (Rev. 

C. H. Parkhurst) 
Madison Square Garden 
Maiden Lane 
Manhattan Bridge 
Mulberry Bend 
Mills Building 
Marble Cemetery (one of the oldest Christian 

cemeteries in the country) 
N. Y. Life Building 
N. Y. Hospital 
New Equitable Building 
New York Stock Exchange 
Newspaper Row 
New York Clearing House 
New York Municipal Building 
New York Harbor 
National Arts Club 
Offices of J. P. Morgan & Company 
Oldest ferry entering New York 
Oldest statue in New York 
Oldest building in New York 
One-mile stone 
Oldest Catholic Church in New York 



Old Bowery Theatre 

Oldest Bank in America 

Princeton Club 

Players Club 

Police Patrol Boat 

Place where Washington took the oath of office 
as first president of the United States 

Park Row Building 

Presbyterian Building 

Place where Washington's army rested 

Rescue Mission in Chinatown 

Site of Merchant's Coffee House 

Site of first Metropolitan Opera House 

Site where leaden statue of George III stood 

St. Paul's Chapel 

Statue of Lafayette 

Statue of first Dutch Governor of New 
Amsterdam 

Site of Old Slave Alarket, 1709 

Site where Marinus Willetts seized from Brit- 
ish muskets with which he armed the Ameri- 
cans 

Site of first settlement of white men on Man- 
hattan Island 

Tammany Hall 

The Ghetto "- 

Trinity Church 

Theatre in which Charlotte Cushman made 
her debut 

Theatre where Edwin Booth achieved his early 
fame 

Tallest inhabited building in the world 

Terminus of all the Elevated Roads » 

University of the City of New York 
107 





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U. S. Quartermaster's Oflfice 

Union Square 

U. S. Assay Office 

Wall Street 

Washington Memorial Arch 

Whitehall Building 

Young Woman's Christian Association 

The tour through upper New York in- 
cludes the palatial residential section along 
Fifth Avenue, the beautiful boulevards and 
driveways of Central Park and Riverside, 
the Tomb of General Grant (where a stop 
of ten minutes is made) and where an un- 
equalled view of the Hudson River and the 
Palisades can be obtained; Columbia Uni- 
versity buildings, cathedrals, churches, hos- 
pitals, etc., as given on the following list, 
and which are referred to by the lectuier: 

Building of American Society for the Preven- 
tion of Cruelty to Animals 
Appellate Court House 
Automobile Club of America 
Ansonia Apartment House 
Academy of Sacred Heart 
Barnard College for Women 
Block House No. i of 1812 
Block House used during Revolution 
Brick Presbyterian Church 
Block on which stand seven theatres 
College of the City of New York 
Church of the Blessed Sacrament 
109 





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Church containing Baptismal Fountain given 
in 1694 

Collegiate Reformed Church 

Church of Heavenly Rest 

Central Park— with BethesdaFountian— Zoolog- 
ical and Botanical Gardens — Egytian Obelisk 

Claremont Inn 

Church where Duke of Marlborough and Miss 
\'anderbilt were married 

Club that raised funds and troops for Union 
during Civil War 

Cathedral of St. John the Divine 

Columbus Monument 

Delmonico's Restaurant 

Democratic Club 

Engineers' Club 

Fifth Avenue Presbyteiian Church 

Fort Washington 

Former Home of Boss Tweed 

Former Home of Bishop Potter 

Fountain presented to city by officers and 
sailors of the English Fleet 

Finest Apartment House in the World 

House in which Jay Gould died 

Headquarters State Reputilican Club 

House in which Prince Henry of Prussia was 
entertained 

Holland House 

House built of stone imported from Germany 

Hotel St. Regis 

Historic Mac Gowan's Pass 

Hotel in which Napoleon of France stopped 

Jewish Synagogue 

Knickerbocker Club 

III 



Little Church Around the Corner 

Low Memorial Library 

Times Square and Building 

Millionaires' Row 

Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Museum of Natural History 

Marble Collegiate Church 

Metropolitan Club 

Manhattan Club 

Manhattan Viaduct 

Martha Washington Hotel (women only) 

Most costly residence in America 

Millionaires' Club 

Morningside Park 

Metropolitan Opera House 

New York Club 

New York Herald Building 

New Hotel Astor 

New Pennsylvania Depot 

New Grand Central Station 

Old Fort Lee 

Old Potter's Field 

Old Arsenal 

Panoramic View of Washington Heights 

Plaza Hotel 

Receiving Reservoir for city water 

Republican Club 

Sherry's Restaurant 

Statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman 

St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral 

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument — Riverside 

Drive 
Site where Gen. Washington met Gen. Green 

and "Wolf" Putnam 

113 





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St. Luke's Hospital 

Site of tragic Windsor Hotel fire 

Scene ot retreat o£ American troops during 
Revolution 

Site of duel between Aaron Burr and Alexan- 
der Hamilton 

Tiffany's new store 

Trees planted by Li Hung Chang 

University, Union League, Union Clubs 

Vanderbilt Twin Houses, etc. 

There is also a trip around Manhattan 
Island by the sight-seeing yachts "Obser- 
vation ' ' and ' ' Tourist ", which is of extreme 
interest and well worth making. The boats 
start from Battery Park Pier at 10:30 A.M. 
and 2.30 P.M. daily, from May 1st to 
November ist. They sail up the East 
River, around the island, through the Har- 
lem Ship Canal, down the Hudson, past 
the Palisades, Fort Washington, Grant's 
Tomb and Riverside Park, revealing an 
unexpected number of interesting fea- 
tures of the shipping and commerce of 
New York as well as the gigantic Atlantic 
liners. 

Another trip starts from the above-men- 
tioned pier at 1:15 P.M. daily, going down 
the Bay to Staten Island past the Quaran- 
tine Station, Forts Hamilton. Wadsworth 
and LaFayette, through the Narrows to the 

ZI5 




St. Patrick's Cathedial at IMott and Prince 
Streets. 



Lower Bay, past Sandy Hook Light Ship 
and Fort Hancock. The yacht rounds the 
Sandy Hook Light Ship (25 miles from 
Battery Pier) presenting an unequalled 
view of the entrance to New York 
Harbor. On the way back to the city a 
good view is given of famous Coney 
Island, Brighton and Manhattan Beaches. 
As in the case of the motor busses, all of 
these yachts carry a competent lecturer 
who explains every point of interest in 
passing. 

Residences of Prominent People 

It is doubtful if any city in the union has 
a residential section of such international 
reputation as borders Central Park on the 
east, along Fifth Avenue. Practically every 
house is occupied by a family of note socially 
or commercially, and for those who wish to 
take a leisurely stroll along that noted 
thoroughfare, we give below a few names 
together with the number of the houses 
in which they re^de. All are on Fifth 
Avenue. 

Mrs. John Jacob Astor No. 840 

Mr. Edwin Gould " 936 

Mr. Francis Burton Harrison " 876 

Col. Oliver H. Payne " 852 

Rev, Alfred Duane Pell " 929 

117 



Mr. William Rockefeller No. 689 

Mr. Thos. F. Ryan " 858 

Mr. Jacob H. Schiff " 965 

Mrs. Finley J. Shepard (Miss Helen M. 

Gould) " 579 

Mrs. Russell Sage " 604 

Mr. B. N. Duke " 200 

Mrs. Marcus Daly " 225 

Mr. Anthony J. Drexel, Jr " 1051 

I^Ir. Fred'k S. Flower " 612 

Mr. Henry Clay Frick. .sth Ave. cor. 70th St 

Mr. Robert Goelet No. 647 

Mr. S. R. Guggenheim " 743 

Mr. Robt. L. Gerry " 816 

Mr. Wm. Guggenheim " 833 

Judge E. H. Gerry " 856 

Mr. Geo. J. Gould " 857 

Mr. Adrian Iselin, Jr " 711 

Mr. Wm. E. Iselin " 745 

Mr. Philip Lewisohn " 923 

Mr. Mortimer L. Schiff " 932 

Mr. \\'illiam Salomon " 1020 

Mr. Sam'l Untermeyer " 675 

Mr. Fred'k Vanderbilt " 459 

Mr. Wm. K. \'anderbilt " 660 

Mrs. Wm. K. Vanderbilt .Jr " 666 

Mr. Harry Payne Whitney " 870 

Mr. Frank W. Woolworth " 991 

Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont. No. 477 Madison Ave. 
Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer.sth Ave. cor 66th St. 
Mrs. E. H. Harriman. . .5th .A.ve. cor 69th St. 

Mr. James Speyer No. 257 Madison Ave. 

Mr. Andrew Carnegie. .5th Ave. cor. gist St. 

Mr, James B. Clews. . .sth Ave. cor. 85th St. 

119 




The Flat Iron Building, Corner of 23rd Street 
and Broadway. 



Mr. James B. Duke.. . .Sth Ave. cor. 78th St. 

Mrs. Ogden Goelet 608 sth Ave.. 

Mr. Elbridge T. Gerry .2 East 6ist St. 

Judge A. R. Lawrence.. 69 Washington Place 

Mr. Ogden Mills 2 East 69th St. 

Mrs. Herman Oelrichs. . 5th Ave. cor. 57th St. 

Mr. Louis Stern 464 Riverside Drive 

Mrs. Hamilton McK. Twombly.27 E. 55th St. 
Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt . 5th Ave. & 57th St. 
Senator William A. Clark. 5th Ave. & 77th St. 
Mr. Wm. H. Vanderbilt. 5th Ave.. 53-54th St9. 

Mr. John D. Rockefeller 4 West 54th St. 

Mr. J. P. Morgan. . .36th St. & Madison Ave. 

Famous Churches in New York 

New York has some very famous sacred 
edifices. Unquestionably the one which ap- 
peals most to strangers is the historic 
Gothic pile at the head of Wall Street on 
Broadway— old Trinity. Not so many 
years ago people climbed the spire _ of 
Trinity to get a view of the surrounding 
city as it was then the highest point on 
the island. 

Its proportions, however, have been 
dwarfed by its present surrounding sky- 
scrapers, which tower far above the spire, 
but the dignity and beauty of Trinity have 
in no wise been diminished; the contrast 
between its restful repose and the turmoil 
of Broadway is as grateful to-day as ever; 
121 




Looking North, Broadway from Trinity Church. 
The large building overlooks Trinity churchyaid. 



and the open gate still as persuasively in- 
vites us to turn aside for a moment within 
the twilight of its aisles, or to stroll amid 
the headstones where so many thousands are 
sleeping the long sleep. _ 

The church is the third of those which 
have stood here since 1697. The first one 
was burned in the great fire of 1776, which 
destroyed 500 buildings, and the second one, 
having become unsafe, was pulled down to 
make way for the present edifice, which was 
completed in 1S46. It is of brown sand- 
stone and is regarded as a fine specimen of 
the Gothic style. In the belfry is the fa- 
mous chime of bells. On New Year's Eve 
thousands of people come down to Trinity 
to hear the chimes ring out the old year 
and welcome the new. 

In the northern part of the ground near 
Broadway stands the handsome Gothic 
memorial commonly called the Martyrs' 

MOXUMENT. 

Sacred to the memory of those brave and 
good men, who died whilst itnprisoned in this 
City, for their devotion to the cause of A nieri- 
ca's Independence. 

On the left, as we enter at the lower 
Broadway gate, is the monument, "In 
memory of Captain James Lawrence, of the 
United States Navy, who fell on the ist day 
of June, 1 8 13, in the 3 2d year of his age, in 

123 




Clinton Hal!, cor. Bceknian and Nassau Sts.- 
Now site of 'i'cmple Court. 



the action between the frigates Chesapeake 
and Shannon." The tribute on the pedes- 
tal reads: 

The heroic commander of the frigate 
Chesapeake, whose remains are here deposited, 
expressed ivith his expiring breath his de- 
votion to his country. Neither the fury of 
battle, the anguish of a mortal wound, nor the 
horrors of approaching death could subdue 
his gallant spirit. His dying words were, 
"DOX'T GIVE UP THE SHIP." 

Alexander Hamilton's tomb is marked by 
the conspicuous white marble monument 
i n the south grounds near the Rector street 
railing. 

It would require much longer time than 
can be spared at present to enumerate all the 
interesting things about old Trinity. It 
is safe to say that a visit is well worth the 
trouble. 

St. Paul's Chapel 

St. Paul's Chapel on Broadway be- 
tween Vesey and Fulton streets, is of sufficient 
historical interest to deserve a short chapter 
to itself. Curiously enough, the Broadway 
end of the building! s the rear, for the church 
was built fronting on the river; and in the 
old days a pleasant lawn sloped down to the 
water's edge, which was then on the line 

I2S 



of Greenwich street. One effect of St. 
Paul's thus looking away from Broadway- 
is to give us at the portal an increased sense 
of remoteness from the great thoroughfare 
and of isolation from its strenuous life, so 
that all the more readily we yield to the 
pervading spell of the churchyard's peace- 
ful calm. 

St. Paul's is a cherished relic of Colonial 
days. Built in 1766 as a chapel of Trinity 
Parish, it is the only church edifice which 
has been preserved from the pre-Revolu- 
tionary period. After the burning of 
Trinity in 1776, St. Paul's became the parish 
church; here worshipped Lord Howe and 
Major Andre and the English midshipman 
whowas afterward King George IV. After 
his inauguration at Federal Hall in Wall 
street, President Washington and both 
houses of Congress came in solemn proces- 
sion to St. Paul's, v.-here service was con- 
ducted by Bishop Provost, Chaplain of the 
Senate, and a Te Deum was sung. _ There- 
after, so long as New York remained the 
Capital, the President was a regular at- 
tendant here; his diary for Sunday after 
Sunday contains the entry: "Went to St. 
Paul's Chapel in the forenoon." Wash- 
ington's Pew remains to-day as it was 
then; it is midway of the church on the left 
aisle, and is marked by the Arms of the 
127 



United _ States on the wall. Across the 
church is the pew which was reserved for 
the Governor of the State, and was oc- 
cupied by Governor Clinton; above it are 
the State Arms. The pulpit canopy is 
ornamented with the gilded crest of the 
Prince of Wales, a crown surmounted by 
three ostrich feathers. It is the only em- 
blem of royalty that escaped destructionat 
the hands of the Patriots when they came in- 
to posses9ion of the city in 1783. 

In the wall of the Broadway portico, 
where it is seen from the street and is ob- 
served by innumerable eyes daily, is the 
Montgomery Monument, in memory of 
Major-General Richard Montgomery, of 
Revolutionary fame. It consists of a 
mural tablet bearing an urn upon a pedes- 
tal supported by military accoutrements. 
General Montgomery commanded the ex- 
pedition against Canada in 1775, and on 
Dec. 31 of that year, in company with 
Colonel Benedict Arnold, led the assault 
upon Quebec. Just after the exclamation, 
"Men of New York, you will follow where 
your General leads!" he fell, mortally 
wounded. Aaron Burr bore his body from 
the field, and the Englishmen gave it 
soldier's burial in the city. Forty-three 
years later, in 181 8, Canada surrendered 
the remains to the United States. 
129 




First homeol Borden's Condensed Milk Co. in 
Hudson Street, 1855. 



The monument had been ordered by 
Congress as early as 1776. It was bought 
by Benjamin FrankHn in Paris, and was 
shipped to America on a privateer. A 
British gunboat captured the privateer, 
and in turn was taken by an American 
vessel, and so at last the monument reached 
its destination. The inscription reads: 

This Monmnent is erected by order of 
CONGRESS, 25th Janry, 1776, to trans- 
mit to Posterity a grateful remembrance of 
the patriotic conduct, enterprise and per- 
severance of MAJOR GENERAL RICH- 
ARD MONTGOMERY, who after a series 
of successes amidst the most discouraging 
Difficulties Fell in the attack on QUEBEC 
31st Decbr, 1775. Aged 37 years. 

The State of New York caused the remains 
of Majr. Genl. Richard Montgomery to be 
conveyed from Quebec and deposited beneath 
this monument the Sth day of July, 1818. 

At that time Mrs. Montgomery, in the 
forty-third year of her widowhood, was 
living near Tarry town on the Hudson, 
Governor Clinton had told her of the day 
when the steamboat "Richmond", bearing 
her husband's remains, would pass down 
the river; and sitting alone on the piazza of 
her home, she watched for its coming. With 
what emotions she saw the pageant is told 
in a letter written to her niece: 

131 



"At length they came by with all that 
remained of a beloved husband, who left 
me in the bloom of manhood, a perfect 
being. Alas! how did he return? However 
gratifying to my heart, yet to my feelings 
every pang I felt was renewed. The pomp 
with which it was conducted added to my 
woe; when the steamboat passed with slow 
and solemn movement, stopping before my 
house, the troops under arms, the Dead 
March from the muffled drums, the mourn- 
ful music, the splendid coffin canopied with 
crepe and crowned with plumes, you may 
conceive my anguish. I cannot describe 
it." 

The most conspicuous monuments in 
the churchyard near Broadway are those 
of Thomas Addis Emmejt and Dr. William 
J. MacXevin, both of whom participated 
in the Irish rebellion of 1798, came to New 
York and achieved distinction, Emmet at 
the bar and MacXevin in medicine. The 
inscriptions are in English, Celtic and Latin. 
"West of the church is the urn with flames 
issuing from it, which marks the resting 
place of George Frederick Cooke, the dis- 
tinguished tragedian; born in England 1756; 
died in New York 181 2. The monument 
was erected in 1821 by the great EngHsh 
actor, Edmund Kean, and has been 
the subject of pious care by Charles 
133 



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Kean, who restored it in 1846, Edward 
A. Sothern in 1874 and Edwin Booth in 
1890. The epitaph is by Fitz-Grcene 
Halleck: 

Three Kingdoms claim his birth. 

Both hemispheres pronounce his worth. 

St. Paul's is dear to the heart of every 
New Yorker and will ever so remain. 

St. Peters a block or two from St. Pauls 
on Barclay Street is the oldest Catholic 
Church in the city and it still holds services 
in its original location. With these few 
exceptions the other important churches 
are far uptown. 

St. Thomas on the corner of Fifth Ave. 
and 56th Street, St. Bartholomews on 
Madison Avenue and 44th Street. The 
First Baptist, popularly known as "Rocke- 
feller's Church," St. Andrews, St. Patricks, 
Temple Emanuel, Cathedral of St. John 
the Divine, are all noted structures. A 
special feature of the services is the music 
which is of an unusually high order of ex- 
cellence. Grace Church at loth Street and 
St. Marks near 2nd Avenue, where_ Gov- 
ernor Stuyvesant is buried, are also in the 
public eye but are attended by many of the 
oldest family. 

"The Little Church Around the 
Corner" is a familiar name for the Church 

135 



of the Transfiguration, on East Twenty- 
ninth street, near Fifth avenue. The 
story goes that when in 1871 Joseph Jeffer- 
son endeavored to arrange for the funeral 
of George Holland, a brother actor, at a 
church on Madison avenue, the pastor said 
that he could not hold burial services over 
the body of an actor. "But," he added, 
"there is a little church around the comer 
you can go to." "Then all honor to the 
little church around the comer," replied 
Jefferson. "We will go there." From 
that time the church and its rector. Rev. 
George H. Houghton (who died in 1897) 
were held in affectionate regard by the the- 
atrical profession. Many actors have been 
buried from the church, among them Les- 
ter Wallack, Dion Boucicault and Edwin 
Booth. There is a memorial window given 
by The Players (the actors' club), in loving 
memory of Booth. 

John Street IMethodtst Church. — 
The John Street M. E. Church, at 44 John 
street, called the ''Cradle of American 
Methodism," is the oldest Methodist 
church in America. It was founded by 
Philip Embury in 1766; the first edifice was 
erected in 1768, a second one on the same 
site in 181 7, and the present structure in 
1841. There are treasured here Philip 
Embury's Bible, Bishop Asbury's chair and 

137 




The Merchants' Exchange, 1831. 
Now Bite of National City Banlc. Wall Street. 



the clock which John Wesley sent over from 
England, and which still ticks off the time. 
There are over a thousand diffeient 
churches in New York, the Christian Science 
being the latest addition. Their buildings 
deserve special notice by reason of their 
wonderful architectural beauty. In near- 
ly all the hotels there is a church bulletin 
issued weekly, which gives the pastors name, 
location of church, and in some instances 
the subject for the coming Sunday. These 
should be consulted by the_ stranger, as well 
as the religious columns in the Saturday 
evening papers which contain all the latest 
church news. 

Custom House 

On the same site on which stood the first 
public building ever erected in New York — 
old Fort Amsterdam — stands the new York 
Custom House. 

In this splendid building, New York 
possesses the largest and most beautiful 
custom house in the world. The building 
was designed by Cass Gilbert; it is of Maine 
granite, seven stories in height, and cost 
$4,500,00. It is embellished with a wealth 
of exterior decoration, the motives of which 
are found in the world-wide commerce of 
the United States, of which seventy-five 

139 





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per cent, enters through the port of New 
York. Dolphin masks, rudders, tridents, 
the caduceus of Mercury, the winged wheel, 
the conventionalized wave and other sug- 
gestions are of the sea and ships and trans- 
portation. A series of forty-four Corin- 
thian columns surrounding the building are 
crowned with capitals from which look out 
the head of _ Mercury, ancient god of com- 
merce; and in the keystones of the window 
arches are carved heads typical of the eight 
types of mankind — the Caucasian, with 
accessory of oak branches; Hindu, lotus 
leaves; Latin and Celt, grapes; Mongol, 
poppy; Eskimo, fur hood; coureur de bois, 
pine cones; African. 

Extending across the sixth floor of the 
Bowling Green fagadeis a series of twelve 
statues carved from Tennessee marble. 
The figures are of heroic size and represent 
twelve sea-faring powers, ancient and 
modem, which have had part in the com- 
merce of the globe. 

Passing into the Interior which is open 
to visitors from g to 3 are seen some beauti- 
ful Mural paintings depicting early his- 
torical scenes, describing this eventful spot, 
and the happenings that made it famous. 
It is reached by all the subways, elevateds 
and Broadway street cars and is well worth 
a visit. 

I4X 



The Best KnowTi Picture in the 
World— The Statue of Liberty 
The Statue of Liberty Entlightening 
THE World is on Bedloe's Island, in the 
Upper Bay, i H miles from the Battery. It 
is reached by steamboat, which leaves the 
Battery hourly, on the hour, and returns on 
the half-hour, from g A. M. to 5 P. M. One 
may obtain a satisfactory view of the ex- 
terior and return on the same boat, time 
from Battery and return three-quarters of 
an hour; if the ascent of the Statue is to be 
made, allow an hour and three-quarters. 

As it is easily the most widely known 
statue in the world and is printed more 
times every year than any art work ever 
yet produced it may be of some interest to 
Rive_ some particulars regarding its pro- 
portions. 

Ft. In. 

Height from base to torch 151 i 

Foundation of pedestal to torch. . . .305 6 

Heel to top of head iii 6 

Length of hand 16 5 

Index finger 8 o 

Circumference at second joint 7 6 

Size of finger nail 13x101 n. 

Head from chin to cranium 17 3 

Head thickness from ear to ear. ... 10 o 
Distance across the eye 2 6 

143 



Ft. In. 

Length of nose 4 6 

Right arm, length 42 

Right arm, greatest thickness 12 o 

Thickness of waist 35 o 

Width of mouth 3 

Tablet, length 23 7 

Tablet, thickness 2 o 

Height of pedestal 89 o 

Square sides at base, each 62 o 

Square sides at top, each 40 o 

Grecian columns, above base 72 8 

Height of foundation 65 o 

Square sides at bottom 91 

Square sides at top 66 7 

Our Wonderful Bridges 

The New York and Brooklyn Bridge, 
which spans the East River, connecting 
the Boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, 
has its Manhattan terminal at the City 
Hall Park. The promenade is free; fare 
by trolley, s cents. To see the bridge, we 
should view it from the water, or walk 
across it. Only by actually going out 
upon the bridge may one gain any concep- 
tion of its tremendous construction. We 
shall find, too, a memorable prospect of 
river, and harbor and city, east over Brook- 
lyn, west and north over New York to the 

145 



Palisades. The ridge of high buildings on 
the lower end of Manhattan, as seen from 
the bridge in the afternoon, has much of 
the character of a mountain; its heights 
cast in shadow the district east of it, just 
as a mountain shadows the slopes and val- 
leys behind it long before the sun sets. If 
we go out to the middle of the river span, 
we shall have the novel experience of look- 
ing directly down upon the water craft 135 
feet below. As seen from here, even the 
largest steamboat takes on an appearance 
curiously suggestive of a toy boat. 

The bridge was begun in 1870 and opened 
to traffic in 1883, having consumed thir- 
teen years in building, and cost $1 5,000, o( 0. 
Subsequent alterations have increased the 
cost to $21,000,000. It is justly considered 
one of the wonders of the world. 

The Manhattan Bridge spans the East 
River north of the Brooklyn Bridge. The 
river span is 1,470 feet, each land span is 
725 feet, the Manhattan approach 2,067 
feet, Brooklyn approach 1,868 feet — -total 
length of roadway 6,855 feet. The towers 
are ^,22 feet above mean high water mark. 
The cost was $24,000,000. 

The Willi.amsburg Bridge, from Wil- 
liamsburg, Brooklyn, to Grand street, Man- 
hattan, is the greatest suspension bridge 
in the world, with a channel span of 1,600 

147 



feet, a length of 7,200 feet between ter- 
minals, a height of 135 feet at the center 
and towers 335 feet. The bridge is 118 
feet wide and carries four trolley and two 
cable tracks, two roadways and two foot 
walks. The cost was $12,000,000. 

The Qi'EENSBORO Bridge extends across 
the East River from East Fifty-ninth street, 
to Ravenswood, in the Borough of Queens. 
The clear height of the bridge above mean 
high water is 135 feet. The carrying ca- 
pacity is enormous. There are two floors 
the lower one 86 feet wide between railings, 
the upper one 67 feet. Its cost was ^20,- 
000,000. 

Statue George III. 

The Equestrian Statue of George III 
shown in this book is reproduced from the 
original drawing made for The New York 
Historical Society by the noted military 
artist authority, Mr. Charles M. Lefferts 
of Plandome, L. I. _ 

IsTo authentic picture of this famous 
statue having come down to this genera- 
tion, Mr. Lefferts, after a study of several 
years of the original records of the Revolu- 
tionary period, was able from undisputed 
documents to create the picture of His 
Majesty George III. mounted on horseback, 

149 






The Best Known Picture in the World. 

The Statue of Liberty. 

On Bedloe's Island, presented to the American 

people by the French Nation in 1884. 



with absolute certainty as a true represen- 
tation of the original and it is here repro- 
duced with his kind permission for the first 
time in any publication. 

The story of this statue begins in June, 
1766, when the Assembly of New York pro- 
vided for the erection of an equestrian 
statue of George III., also a statue of 
William Pitt, the champion of the American 
cause in the House of Commons. 

On June 3, 1770, the statues arrived in 
New York, having been executed by the 
noted sculptor, Joseph Wilton, of London. 
On August 16, 1770, the statue of the king 
was placed in the Bowling Green, facing the 
Fort Gate, with great ceremony. It was 
made of lead richly gilded, and was modeled 
after the famous equestrian statue of 
Marcus Aurelius, in Rome, Italy, 

On July 9, 1776, it was destroyed by the 
citizens of New York and soldiers. Most oi. 
it was sent to Connecticut, where it was melt- 
ed into bullets for the American Army. Four 
pieces of the statue, including the tail of the 
horse, was ploughed up on the farm of 
Peter S. Coley at Wilton, Conn., in April. 
1 87 1, and became the property of the New 
York Historical Society in 1878. The king's 
head, much disfigured, was taken by Cap- 
tain John Montressor, Chief Engineer of the 
British Army, and sent to England as an 



example ' ' of the infamous disposition of the 
Ungrateful people." 

The slab of the pedestal now also owned 
by The New York Historical Society, was 
taken to Paulus Hook, New Jersey, and in 
1783 placed over the grave of Major John 
Smith of the 42d Royal Highland Regiment, 
who died July 25, 1783. In 1818, when Jer- 
sey City was graded, the slab was removed 
and used as stepping stone at the residence 
of Cornehus Van Voost, who in 1874 gave 
it to the Society, where, with parts of the 
statue and Mr. Leffert's picture, it may be 
seen on exhibition in the New York Room. 

Some Extra Valuable Sites 

The 2,500 square feet at the corner of 
Wall and Broad streets, occupied as part of 
the banking house site of J. P. Morgan & 
Co., is the most valuable property in the 
city. It is assessed at the rate of S4o,ooo a 
front foot. In the next most valuable sec- 
tion, at Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth 
Avenue, the two north corners are assessed 
at 517,000 a front foot, and the third most 
valuable district is at Forty-second Street 
and Fifth Avenue, where north corners are 
assessed at S 15,000 a front foot. According 
to figures of appraisers the Grand Central 
station is the most valuable property, its 
assessment being placed at §18,175,000. 

153 




Equitable BuildiiiR, Bioad\\a> l)ctween Liberty 

and Cedar Streets. 
Kepi'cscnts an invtbt incut of o\ n 20 niillioii dollars. 



Altman's store is not far behind, with a 
total assessed value of $14,450,000. Some 
other assessments are: 

191S. 

Grand Central Station $18, 175,000 

Flatiron Building 2,075,000 

Woolworth Building 9,500,000 

Biltmore Hotel 8,575,000 

Holland House 1,525,000 

Manhattan Hotel 3,850,000 

McAlpin Hotel 9,450,000 

Plaza Hotel 8,000,000 

Waldorf-Astoria 13,135.000 

Calumet Club 340,000 

Union League $1,895,000 

University Club 2,175,000 

Hammerstein's Opera House. . 775,000 

Strand Theatre 2,325,000 

Taxes 
Rockefeller Heads Personal List 

The list of personal property assess- 
ments shows the unusual fact that in 
all Manhattan there are only seventy-five 
persons assessed on $200,000 or more. John 
D. Rockefeller at $5,000,000 heads the list, 
with James B. Ford second at $3,000,000. 
Andrew Carnegie, who formerly was as- 
sessed at $5,000,000, is not on the list at all, 
having taken refuge under the secured debt 
law. 

155 




Our New Municipal Building. 
Contains over 7000 city employees. 



James B. Ford, whose personal fortune 
ranks second in the assessment lists to that 
of John D. Rockefeller, inherited from his 
brother, J. Howard Ford, who died suddenly 
in New York last March. The brother's 
estate included the Stony Ford Stock Farm 
of over 1,000 acres at Goshen, N. Y. Mr. 
Ford is vice-president of the tJnited States 
Rubber Company and a director in many 
kindred corporations. 

Some of those assessed at $200,000 or 
more are: 

John D. Rockefeller $5,000,000 

James B. Ford 3,000,000 

Oliver H. Payne 600,000 

Henry C. Frick 500,000 

Cornelius Vanderbilt 500,000 

Gertrude V. Whitney 500,000 

WiUiam Ziegler, Jr 500,000 

George Ehret 400,000 

Jacob H. Schiff 400,000 

P. M. Warburg 400,000 

Alice G. Vanderbilt 400,000 

Margaret O. Sage 320,000 

Amos R. E. Pinchot 300,000 

James Gordon Bennett 300,000 

Edith S. Vanderbilt 250,000 

James Speyer 200,000 

T. F. Ryan 200,000 

Henry Phipps 200,000 

Total is $860,000,000. 
157 




Cathedral of St. John the Divine. 
This is the first chunh building to rival the 
fntiious cathcilrals in Kurope. Comnienoed in 
1S'J2 and will probably be a century in building. 



There are in the whole city 73,ooo indi- 
viduals, estates and corporations assessed 
for $10,000 or more. The total assessment 
amounts to $860,000,000. 

Some of the more important estates as- 
sessed and the amounts at which they are 
valued are: 

B. Altman Ss, 000, 000 

John H. Ford 5,000,000 

George Westinghouse 5,000,000 

George W. Vanderbilt 5,000,000 

J. B. Haggin 5,000,000 

J. P. Morgan 3.600,000 

George A. Hearn 2,000,000 

Alexander E. Orr 2,000,000 

Mary E. Pinchot 1,000,000 

Henry B. Hyde 1,000,000 

John B. Carter 1,000,000 

John L. Cadwalader 500,000 

James M. Horton 500,000 

Frederick T. Martin 500,000 

Adolph M. Bendheim 500,000 

Max E. Bendheim 500,000 

T. D. Sullivan 300,000 

Harris Fahnestock 300,000 

Governor's Island 

the headquarters of the military Depart- 
ment of the East, is little over half a mile 
from the Battery. _ Besides officers' bar- 
racks, etc., it contains the antiquated Fort 
159 



Columbus, the circular structure erected in 
1811, called Castle Williams, now used as a 
military prison and a landing-place and 
hangars for aerial craft. The Military Ser- 
vice Institution in one of the buildings on 
the island has a collection of war relics. 
Admission to Governor's Island is by pass, 
obtainable by writing to the post adjutant, 
Government Ferry, near South Ferry. 

Ellis Island 

near Liberty Island, is the landing-place 
for immigrants, where they are examined 
as to their eligibility for admission to the 
United States. The immigrants enter a 
big reception-room in the main building, 
where they are divided into groups. These 
pass before a corps of examining physicians, 
then before the immigrant inspectors, who 
question each person as to his purpose, 
:neans, character, etc. Visitors are ad- 
mitted to a balcony overlooking the room 
where they are received. Free ferry from 
the Battery. 

Photographing New York's tall sky 
scrapers is a very difficult matter techni- 
cally and the pictures we show in this work 
of modern buildings are due to the skill of Ir- 
ving Underhill, Brown Bros., George P. Hall, 
and others — all expert operators and clever, 
artistic workmen. They are copyrighted. 
161 




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Union Square 



Union Square lies between Broadway and 
Fourth avenue. Fourteenth and Seventeenth 
streets. Here southeast of the park stands H. 
K. Browne's bronze statue of Abraham Lin- 
coln. The curb bears the words of the Sec- 
ond Inaugural: "With malice towards none, 
with charity for all." Across the Square, 
the equestrian bronze statue of Washing- 
ton (by the same sculptor) stands close by 
the spot where General Washington was 
received by the citizens when he ehtered 
the city on its evacuation by the British, 
Nov. 2 5, 1783. Facing south on Broadway- 
is the statue of Lafayette, by Bartholdi, 
of Statue of Liberty fame, which was 
erected by French residents in 1876, with 
the dedication: "To the City of New York, 
France, in remembrance of sympathy in 
time of trial, 1870-71." The reference is to 
the period of the Franco-Prussian War. 
In the west of the Square is the James 
Fountain, designed by Dunndorf and given 
to the city by D. Willis James. It is a 
much admired bronze group of a mother 
and her two children. The fountain in the 
center of the Square flowed for the first 
time Oct. 14, 1842, on the occasion of the 
Croton Water Celebration, when a pro- 
cession seven miles long filed past it in re- 

163 




Franklin Simon & Co. 

Correct dress for Iwtli sexes. 

5th Ave. & 38th St. 

Site of Old Waddell Mansion. 



view by Governor Seward. In season 
there is in the basin a fine display of water 
Hlies. Fourteenth Street leads west to 
Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, and east to 
the Academy of Music and Tammany Hall. 
Tammany Hall, one of the best known 
political buildings in the country, a block and 
a half east of Union Square on 14th Street, is 
owned by the Tammany Society, a benevo- 
lent organization founded in 1789. It took 
the name from Tammany, a friendly and 
popular chief of the Delaware tribe of 
Indians; and it was this chief, who gave to 
one of the tribes for a totem the tiger, 
which was afterward adopted by the Tam- 
many Society. The Tammany Hall Gen- 
eral Committee is a political organization 
which occupies Tammany Hall as head- 
quarters; it is distinct from the Tammany 
Society, but is generally regarded as part 
of the original organization. This is the 
headquarters of the Democratic Party in the 
city. 

Madison Square 

Beautiful as a park, with its trees and 
lawns and fountain and statues, Madison 
Square is set amid distinguished surround- 
ings. In the northeast the Madison Square 
Garden, scene of the famous Stanford White 
shooting, lifts its graceful tower with the 

i6s 




A department store of national reputation — 
R. li. Alacy & Co., Broadway and 34th St. 



gilded Diana poised on the pinnacle. On 
the east is the Appellate Court House. 

The Madison Avenue Presbyterian 
Church (the pulpit of Dr. Charles H. Park- 
hurst) with its massive columned portico, 
tiled dome and gold lantern is in design and 
liberal use of color, more like a theatre than 
a church. It stands on the corner of 
Twenty-fourth Street surrounded by sky- 
scrapers. 

The Square is dominated by the Metro- 
politan Tower, one of the architectural 
wonders of the world, and by the Fuller 
Building, which stands at the 23d Street 
intersection of Broadway and Fifth Ave- 
nue, one of the most famous streets in the 
world. The building is popularly called the 
Flatiron, because the plot on which it 
stands is of flatiron shape, with the rounded 
point toward Madison Square. From 
viewpoints far up on Fifth Avenue the Flat- 
iron towers up impressively. The building, 
including site, cost $4,000,000. It is 300 feet 
high, with twenty stories, and 456 oflEices 
above the fourth floor. 

In the northeast corner of the Square is 
Bissel's bronze statue of Chester Alan 
Arthur, Twenty-first President of the 
United States of America. In the south- 
west, near Twenty-third Street, is the statue 
of ROSCOE CoNKLiNG, Senator from New 
167 



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The world renowned Wanamalcer Stores, 
Broadway from Asior Place to lotli Street. 



York, 1867-81. The figure is of bronze, 
by Ward, and represents the orator in the 
attitude so familiar to his audiences. The 
memorial was erected by friends on the spot 
where bewildered and overcome in the ter- 
rible blizzard of March 12, 1888, he fell 
exhausted, and suffered exposure which 
resulted in his death. 

The famous Madison Square Garden is on 
the northeast corner of the Square. This is 
the home of the Horse Show and of the Circus. 
It was on theroof of this building that Harry 
Thaw shot Stanford White. 

Fire Boats 

The city has ten of these boats. They 
are equipped with powerful machinery and 
are of tremendous hose capacity. Their 
mission is to quell fires in the shipping and 
on the water front. Steam is always up 
and everything is in readiness for instant 
response to the alarm which comes over the 
wire or is given by rapid, short blasts of a 
steamer's whistle. When a boat's siren 
answers the call and the boat starts away, 
i t is something to stir the blood even of one 
to whom a fire engine dashing through city . 
streets is an old story. 

At the battery stands a statue to John 
Ericsson (born in Sweden, 1803, died in 
169 




The Chamber of Commerce Building. 



New York, 1889") who invented the screw or 
propeller as applied to steam navigation in 
1836-41. In 1863 he designed the turreted 
ironclad "Monitor," which met the Con- 
federate ram "Merrimac" in Hampton 
Roads, Va., March 9, 1863, and by its suc- 
cessful performance revolutionized naval 
warfare. The "Monitor" is represented in 
one of the panels of the pedestal. 

The City Hall 

This building is considered by architects 
and artists one of the most successful ex- 
amples of the Colonial School existing in 
our country today. It was completed in 
1812, and succeeded the old Federal Hall 
standing on the corner of Wall Street and 
Nassau. It remains exactly as originally 
built except for the Cupola and Statue on 
top which was burned when the building 
caught fire during the celebration of the 
Atlantic Cable in 1S58. It is by far the 
most interesting public building in the city 
and is filled with delightful mementos of 
the past. 

It is built of white marble, but the rear 
wall is of freestone, for the builders of 18 12 
surmised that the city would never go be- 
yond this. To-day the city limits are six- 
teen miles north. The Mayor's room is on 
171 







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the first floor. Under one of its windows 
on the outside is a tablet recording: "Near 
this spot, in the presence of General George 
Washington, the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence was read and published to the Ameri- 
can Army, July 9th, 1776." 

The halls of the Council and Assembly 
are on the second floor, and may be visited. 
The Governor's Room, originally intended 
for the use of the Governor of the State, is 
on the Second floor. Across the hall is a 
statue of Thomas Jefferson, by David 
d'Angers, a replica of the one in the Capitol 
at Washington. The Governor's Room, 
which is open to the public from 10 to 4 
daily (Saturday to noon), contains Trum- 
bull's full-length equestrian portrait of 
General Washington, and a series of por- 
traits of New York's Governors and other 
worthies. That of Governor Dix, by Anna 
M. Lea, represents him as author of the 
historic dispatch sent by him as Secretary 
of the Treasury to Wm. Hemphill Jones in 
New Orleans, Jan. 29, 1861: "If any one at- 
tempts to haul down the American Flag, 
shoot him on the spot." An easel bears a 
Washington portrait woven in silk in 
Lyons, France, at a cost of Si 0,000. Here, 
too, are preserved the desk and table used 
by President Washington during his first 
term. The table is inscribed in letters of 
173 




Lord & Taylor's new building, sth Ave. 
and 38th Street. 



gold: "Washington's writing table, 1789." 
The fine old mahogany furniture is that 
which was used by the first Congress of the 
United States in Federal Hall, in Wall 
Street. 

Across Chambers Street is the S6,ooo,ooo 
Hall of Records, in which provision is 
made for the safe keeping of the depds of 
all the real estate of Manhattan Island. 
The exterior sculptures of the Hall by 
Bush-Brown and Macmonnies, include 
figures of Commerce, Industry, Naviga- 
tion, History, Poetry, Inscription, Preserva- 
tion, Law, Alaternity and Heritage; groups 
of the races — Indian, Dutch, English and 
Huguenot — which had part in the city's 
past ; and statues of twenty-four men promi- 
nent in its development. 

In front of the City Hall stands the Mac- 
monnies bronze statue erected by the So- 
ciety of the Sons of the Revolution in mem- 
ory of Nathan Hale, a Captain of the Reg- 
ular Army of the United States of America, 
who gave his life for his country in the City 
of New York, Sept. 22, 1776, a picture of 
which is shown on another page. 

An old time Chop House is Farrish's at 
64 John Street. Fifty years ago it was 
famous, and still retains its popularity. 



I7S 



India House 

World trade, with all that the name 
carries of the mystic spell of foreign lands, 
the rich glory of South American beauty, 
the zephyrs and adventures of the South 
Seas, the deep enchantment of the Orient, 
has a home and centre in downtown New 
York. It is the first of its kind. It is 
the child of the present enthusiasm through 
the country for the broad extension of our 
horizon of commerce with far off lands. 
The home is to be a club. Its name will 
be India House. 

The name alone lifts the curtain of a 
century and more — '"India" — and a picture 
presents itself of the gorgeous wonders 
of the East that the daring and ability 
of the adventurous British merchantman 
opened up to make Great Britain the lead- 
ing trading nation of the earth. It brings 
a picture of the home of this romantic trade, 
the dignity and quiet solidity of East India 
House, in Leadenhall street, London, where 
much of British commercial success and 
power were born. 

New York has a foreign trade tradition, 
younger than that of London, but of ab- 
sorbing interest, that has not yet died. It 
has a tradition of stately clipper ships, of 
masses and tangles of rigging and ropes 

177 










^'sa?*' 




-V. .:'«»:' i.,^'> * 



and masts and spars, that stuck above the 
tops of the attic roofs of the rted brick 
colonial houses along the East River 
front from Fulton street to the Battery. 

Old pictures of South Street give a good 
idea of this period and there are still many 
New Yorkers who can recall the time when 
a veritable forest of bowsprits formed a 
canopy all along this section of the city. 

The new home of the club is most ap- 
propriately selected. On another page 
we show the building as it appeared about 
1850, when it was erected originally. 
It has always had tenants connected with 
shipping, was once the Cotton Exchange 
and more recently as the offices of W. R. 
Grace & Co. 

Many of the best known names in Ameri- 
can trade and commerce are already in- 
scribed on the membership rolls of India 
House. The officers are James A. Farrell, 
president; A. B. Johnson, E. N. Hurley, 
James R. Morse and Robert Dollar, vice- 
presidents; Willard Straight, secretary, and 
J. P. Grace, treasurer. On the board of 
governors, in addition to the officers, are 
W. E. Bemis, William H. Childs, E. A. S. 
Clarke. W. L. Clark, Col. Samuel P. Colt. 
E. P. Cronkhite, H. P. Davison, W. Cam- 
eron Forbes, P. A. S. Franklin, Lloyd C. 
Griscom, Joshua A. Hatfield, Charles E. 
179 



.^s 




Jennings, Waldo H. Marshall, James R. 
Morse, Frank Presbrey, Welding Ring, W.L. 
Saunders, W. D. Simmons, E. P. Thomas, 
F. A. Vanderlip, J. G. White and A. H. 
Wiggin. 

What Our Street Car and Subway- 
Systems Have Done to Promote 
Efficiency 

A complete private telephone system, 
consisting of 1550 telephones, 8000 miles 
of cable; handling 16,000 calls daily. 

A force of highly trained and efficient 
workers, provided with well appointed 
training schools for mental development 
and with welfare departments for the phys- 
ical and moral development; a military 
band of 1 17 pieces; dramatic clubs; a private 
baseball park and tennis court; a baseball 
league of 8 clubs; football teams; recreation 
rooms with shower baths, terminal restau- 
rants, etc.; Sunshine committees; a system 
of provision stores, mutual benefit associa- 
tions, and an em.ployes' monthly magazine. 



New York adds about 140,000 to its popu- 
lation each year. It will cost $198,989,786.52 
to run New York in 1915. 
181 



The Restaurants of New York 

For years the restaurants of New York 
have enjoyed a popularity and a reputation 
all their own. In fact in some parts of the 
city — notably the Great White Way which 
is that part of Broadway lying between 34th 
and 54th Streets, the restaurants play a 
conspicuous part in the night life of the big 
towTi, Here may be found food of every 
Nationality and every variety. In this 
particular part of the city there is no special 
catering for strictly French, Itahan or 
German cooking. You can get anything 
your palate may suggest and in abundance. 
In other parts of the city the tastes of cer- 
tain of our foreign population are carefully 
studied and specialties of exclusively for- 
eign origin are served. 

Within the last year or so most of the 
Broadway houses provide entertainment as 
well as food and their Cabaret shows are of 
a high standard of excellence. In addition 
to singing and vaudeville provision is also 
made for dancing. This craze has evident- 
ly come to stay and few even of the largest 
hotels are now without their professional 
dancing masters who supervise the floor 
and overlook the dancers. The rooms set 
apart for this amusement are delightfully 
decorated, brilliantly lighted and the music 
183 



is of the highest order. There is no deny- 
ing that dancing, music with dinners, cab- 
aret entertainments, etc., etc., have done 
much to make an evening pass rapidly and 
enioyably in the city and no stranger need 
feel time hang heavily on his hands whose 
tastes at all run that way. 

The best value in the dining direction is 
undoubtedly the table d'hote. Quite a 
number of restaurants make a specialty of 
the latter for $i.oo, some with wine and 
others without. From that it runs as low 
as 6sc. and as high as $2.50. These 
restaurants are scattered all over town and 
usually advertise their offerings in the papers. 
From these announcements you can easily 
pick out one that is nearest your location 
and rest assured that it will be good value. 
To sum up, the table d' hote is the cheapest 
considering quality and quantity; but the 
Carte du Jour has other and perhaps greater 
attractions for some persons. Taking for 
granted therefore, that the eating i tself is 
bound to be satisfactory the only question 
that remains is. How much do you want to 
spend? 

At Sherry's, Delmonico's, the Biltmore, the 
Vanderbilt, the Belmont, the St. Regis, the 
Plaza, the Waldorf, the Knickerbocker, the 
Astor, Holland House, Imperial, Ritz Carlton, 
the Manhattan, Netherlands, etc., the prices 
185 



while reasonable for what they serve would 
not be recommended for visitors with a 
limited pocketbook. They enjoy a cHen- 
tele to whom quality and service come first 
and the cost afterward. At the same time 
a visit to either one of them as part of your 
trip to New York can be made without 
bankruptcy as a necessary consequence and 
they are well worth seeing. 

Something about Skyscrapers 

New York is the birthplace of the sky- 
scraper. Only this year (19 14) was there 
destroyed the Tower, the first building at 
50 Broadway which successfully demon- 
strated the value of this new idea in 
architecture. A tablet to the honor of 
the designer adorned this building. A later 
and more impressive building will arise on 
the site of the first ten story baby sky- 
scraper which marked the beginning of the 
new school in building. While the same 
idea has been carried out in many other 
cities, the skyscraper in New York, its native 
land, is still the last word in this direction. 

These buildings grew out of the concen- 
tration of business and the ever-insistent 
demand for business office room in the close- 
ly congested business centers. The sky- 
scraper provides business opportunity for 

» 187 




Leonard Jeiome's house first home of the Union 
League Chib, i860. Madison Ave. & 26tli^bt. 



a thousand, two thousand, ten thousand, 
where without it there would be room only 
foras many hundreds. _ It added immensely 
to the value of the limited real estate on the 
island. Two factors have made it possible 
— the passenger elevator, which gives im- 
mediate access to the upper stories, and 
the steel cage system of construction, which 
enables the architect to design his building 
to any desired height. The steel cage is a 
framework of steel beams, bolted together 
with hot rivets. In effect it is a bridge 
set on end. The walls are simply weather 
shields, fastened to it. Under the old 
system the walls supported the floors; in 
the new buildings, the walls serve merely 
as curtains to shut out the weather, and 
are themselves supported by girders which 
project at the levels of the floors. The 
steel frame goes up first, and the walls are 
put on afterwards; sometimes the upper 
stories are walled in before the lower ones. 
Under the old system of supporting walls, 
buildings were limited to eight or ten stories; 
the steel cage goes up twenty and fifty stories, 
and the architects tell us that there are 
no mechanical obstacles to buildings of lOO 
stories. With steel beams and steel ceiling 
arches, concrete floors and stone and metal 
stairways, the structures are considered to 
be fireproof. 

189 







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Some of the greatest engineering achieve- 
ments in their construction are below the 
ground, in the foundations contrived to 
sustain the prodigious superstructures. 
, The foundations go down to bedrock, in 
some instances more than lOO feet below 
the surface. 

A curious effect of the skyscrapers is the 
influence the mass of steel in their frames 
has on the compasses of the shipping in the 
harbor. Commanders of steamers at Ho- 
boken say their compasses show a differ- 
ence of as much as seven degrees in leaving 
their docks, which lessens as they get down 
the_ bay, but some pilots assert that the 
variation is notable as far out as the turn 
in the Gedney Channel. 

The steel caissons are sunk to bedrock 
and supported by brick piers. The wind 
pressure, the weight, and all other mechani- 
cal details are carefully worked out on the 
plans and the structure reared accordingly. 

Some of these buildings contain a popu- 
lation equal to a good sized country town. 
More than 7,500 are in the Municipal 
Building, while the Metropolitan, contains 
even more. All of them have populations 
running well over the thousands. Not a 
few have a number of floors underground 
filled with stores and connecting with sub- 
ways leading everywhere. With this are 
191 



also a number of other conveniences — 
bootblacks, barbers, post offices, baths, 
doctors, dentists, telegraph and telephone, 
dining rooms, lunch counters. In short 
the modern New York skyscraper is a small 
city in itself. 

The tallest skyscraper is the Woolworth 
Building, which occupies the entire block 
front on Broadway from Park Place to 
Barclay Street. It has fifty-five stories and 
rises to a height of 793 K feet above the 
Barclay Street entrance. It is the highest 
inhabited building in the world. 

The Best Known Street in the 
World— WaU Street 

When the Dutch settled New York, their 
farms and gardens were frequently injured 
by black bears, wild boars, wolves and other 
predatory animals which came in from the 
North. Later on, Indians also became 
troublesome. Finally Governor Stuyve- 
sant ordered a wall of staves built across 
the island in 1653, the cost to be defrayed 
by all of the citizens. 

The walls or stockade, extended along 
the East River, from near the present head 
of Coenties Slip, on the north line of Pearl 
Street, crossing the fields to the North 
River, on the present north side of Wall 

193 




,,,11115 E!i II 11 eg „ '"' 

il 




h<- laiiKui.-: 5th Avenue Buildmt;, corner 
i;i.>ail\vay and 5tli Ave., where Col. 
Thomoson's road house stood, 1853. 



Street (whence its name), and then along 
the North River to the fort, just east of 
Greenwich Street, which was then under 
water. In digging the foundation of the 
new Bowling Green offices, s-ii Broadway, 
in igio, a large number of these old posts 
were found many feet under the surface. 
Although nearly 250 years old, the portions 
found were in a wonderful state of preserva- 
tion. 

From the very beginning. Wall Street 
has been of the first importance. Here 
stood all the early public buildings. Feder- 
al Hall, the Custom House, the Assay 
Office, the Merchant's Exchange, the Ton- 
tine Coffee House — father of all the ex- 
changes — the Post Office, etc., etc. It was 
also the scene of the trial of Peter Zenger, 
whose triumphant acquittal secured for the 
colonies freedom of the press as we have al- 
ready described. 

But it is as a financial Centre that its 
greatest fame rests. On the corner of Broad 
Street is the largest private banking house in 
the world, J. P. Morgan & Co. Across the 
street in Broad Street is the Stock Exchange. 
Facing the Wall Street entrance of the 
latter is the imposing structure of the 
Bankers' Trust Co., directly opposite the 
Sub-Treasury. The great firm of Kuhn, 
Loeb & Co., who recreated the Union 

195 



Pacific in conjunction with the late E. H. 
Harriman is nearby. The First National 
Bank, known as "Fort Sherman" — from its 
close connection with Secretary Sherman 
and the resumption of specie payment — is 
on the Broadway corner. Famous old 
Trinity standsatthehead. TheUnited States 
Assay Office, James Speyer & Co., the 
great National City Bank, the Bank of New 
York, the Bank of the Manhattan Co., and 
dozens of others of world wide reputation 
are all embraced in a space of a very 
few short blocks of this famous thorough- 
fare. 

It is one of the narrowest and shortest 
streets in the country being about 30 feet 
wide in its busiest part and scarcely half 
a mile long, yet it transacts more im- 
portant business than any other similar 
circumscribed area in the world. 

Visitors can see the interior of the Stock 
Exchange where over three million shares 
of stock have changed hands in one day 
by application to any member who will 
gladly furnish tickets. 

\\Tiat Transient Visitors Spend 

The railway traffic in and out of New 
York City daily averages 493,000 people 
on 2340 trains. Many thousand more come 
197 




' ' III 1 F -i-l '-ijcnj ' i Lin 111 t 






"iff 



1 



Hotel Manhattan, corner Madison Avenue and 
42nd Street 



by boat and the automobile traffic is in- 
creasing. 

The daily commuting traffic is about 
150,000, so that the incoming and outgoing 
transients will aggregate approximately 
300,000 daily — but the average number of 
out-of-town visitors in the city all the time 
is 200,000. 

It is estimated that the average stay of 
the 200,000 is four and a half days, and their 
daily expenditures are estimated as fol- 
lows: 

Dinner $520,000 

Lodging, with other meals 800,000 

Shopping 320,000 

Theatres 200,000 

Side Trips 280,000 

$2,120,000 
Average individual daily expenditure, 
about Sio. 

The average daily number of arrivals at 
a big Broadway hotel runs about like this: 

Monday 450 names 

Tuesday 550 

Wednesday 550 

Thursday 450 " 

Friday 375 

Saturday and Sunday are the dullest 
days of the week with about 300 names for 
each day. A total of about 3000 names for 

199 




Looking North, Broadway, showing St. Paul s 
Church. Post Office. Haan's Restaurant in 
Park Row Building, and Woohvorth BuUduig. 



the week for one hotel. This average con- 
tinues steady from September i, to the 
following 4th of July. 

The average at the Waldorf-Astoria from 
September i to July i, is 450 names daily. 
The average number of guests is 1000, but 
this often reaches 1800. At the Astor, 
Knickerbocker or McAlpin, the daily aver- 
age registrations are 300 to 450 with a total 
of 700 to 800 guests in the hotel all the time. 

These hotels, of course, only represent 
the cream. Thousands of people prefer the 
smaller and quieter hotels, of which there 
are more than 1200, to say nothing of hun- 
dreds of transient boarding houses. 

There are 215 hotels in New York with 
fifty rooms or more of which the following 
statistics are interesting: — 

Assessed valuation $153,054,500 

Value furnishings 21,000,000 

Daily running expense 150,700 

Employees 42,000 

Total number rooms S3, 000 

Daily guests 80,000 

It is estimated that all the hotels in New 
York employ 85,000 people and cost 
$100,000,000 yearly to operate. 

New York, in its capacity to accommodate 
strangers, exceeds Chicago 15 to i; Boston, 
25 to i; Philadelphia, 35 to i; and Cincin- 
nati, 100 to I. 

201 



The Financial Heart of the Country 
in the New York Clearing House 

In times of great financial stringency 
much is heard of the Clearing House — that 
great institution which regulates and con- 
trols the financial destinies of the country. 
It is perhaps the most important link in 
the chain of finance which binds together 
the commercial world and it acts as guard- 
ian and protector in emergency as in the 
great panic of 1907. 

It stands on Cedar Street near Broad- 
way, and occupies a building which is 
one of the handsomest in 5s'ew York. 
In design and adornment, _ the _ white 
marble structure is in fit keeping with the 
dignity and importance of an institution 
whose daily transactions are regarded as a 
barometer o'^ the financial condition of the 
country. The cost was $1,100,000. Visit- 
ors are not admitted. 

The Clearing House Association compris- 
es forty-eight banks and fifteen trust com- 
panies (these representing also numerous 
others), which meet here to settle their ac- 
counts with one another. In the course of 
its business, each one of the banks receives 
checks and drafts drawn against some or 
all of the others. Instead of each one send- 
ing to collect these checks from the others, 
203 




City In\estiiig Buildiii„oii Broadway between 
Cortlandtand Liberty biiLLtb, 1914 



all the banks come together in the Clearing 
House and turn in the ckecks drawn on 
each. _ After a system of exchange, a bal- 
ance is struck and the sum is ascertained 
which each bank must pay in or which must 
be paid to it to clear its account. By this 
system of paying differences it is prac- 
ticable to settle enormous accounts in a 
way extremely simple and expeditious and 
involving the actual payment of amounts 
which are comparatively small. Thus for 
the year igi2 the average daily clearing 
(i.e., the sum of the checks presented by all 
the banks) were $319,050,407, while the av- 
erage daily balance, paid in cash, were 
$16,670,832, or 5.22 per cent. 

The clerks representing the banks meet 
in the Clearing House at ten o'clock, and 
the balances are ascertained by 12.30. _ A 
bank which is a debtor to the Clearing 
House must pay its balance by 1.30 of the 
same day, either in cash or Clearing House 
certificates. Banks which are creditors 
receive checks for the balance due them 
the same day. 

The Chamber of Commerce 

One of the noted buildings in New York 
is a massive pile of white marble, in the 
Renaissance style, with decorations in 
205 




A. Jaeckel & Co., Furriers, No. 384 5th Avenue 
Shopping District. 



bronze. This is the home of New York's 
great Chamber of Commerce. Between 
the columns are statues of Alexander 
Hamilton by Martini, De Witt Clinton by- 
French, and John Jay by Bitter, and above 
the entrance are groups symbolical of 
Commerce. The vestibule admits to a 
monumental hall and broad stairway of 
Caen stone. Admission is by card of a 
member. The Chamber is a magnificent 
apartment ninety feet long, sixty feet in 
width and thirty feet high. It is lighted 
through an enormous skylight in the ceil- 
ing; and the walls, unbroken to a height of 
twenty feet, are hung with the Chamber's 
large collection of portraits of New York 
merchants. _ The Chamber of Commerce, 
organized in 1768, is an association of 
merchants which concerns itself with ques- 
tions affecting domestic and foreign com- 
merce, the welfare of the city and national 
interests. It has had large influence in 
the development of the port of New York 
and the city's growth and commercial 
expansion. The annual dinner given by the 
Chamber of Commerce, like the Lord 
Mayor's banquet in London, is made the 
occasion of semi-public utterances on great 
national questions of the day. 



207 



The Titanic Memorial Lighthouse 

Surmounting the twelve-story building of 
the Seaman's Institute, South Street and 
Coenties Slip, is a memorial to those who 
perished in the Titanic tragedy of April 15, 
191 2. At the dedication, addresses _ de- 
clared the Lighthouse Tower to be "given 
in memory of the engineers who sent their 
stokers up on deck while they went to cer- 
tain death ; of the membersof the heroicband 
of musicians who played even while the 
water crept up to their instruments; of the 
postal clerks who bravely put duty ahead 
of personal safety; of the Marconi operator; 
of the officers and crew who staid by their 
ship. It is given in memory of those in the 
steerage who perished without ever realiz- 
ing their hopes of the new land, the America 
of endless possibilities. It is given in 
memory of all the heroic deeds by first and 
second cabin passengers. In short, it is a 
monument to every person without regard 
to rank, race, creed or color, whose life went 
down when the giant vessel slipped be- 
neath the waves." 

The Seaman's Institute, which this me- 
morial forms the crowning structure is an 
organization to look out for Jack ashore. 
It performs well its duties and one of its 
particular duties is to get Jack to "Write 
209 




Hardman Peck & Co.'s first Piano 

Factory in Macdougal Street loolved 

lilie tills in 1836. 



Home." In every room a huge placard 
stares the roving sailor with this adtnoni- 
tion and it does effective service in this par- 
ticular. 

Where Washington Took Farewell of 
His Officers 

Fraunces' Tavern, on the southeast 
corner of Broad and Pearl streets, contains 
on the second _ floor the famous "long 
room," in_ which General Washington 
took affecting leave of his officers and 
aides Dec. 4, 178,5, before proceeding to 
Congress to surrender his commission. The 
Tavern was built in 1700. It was opened 
as a tavern by Samuel Fraunces in 1762. 
The building has been restored by the vSons 
of the Revolution to its original proportions. 
The first floor is still a tavern; or more 
properly speaking a modern restaurant 
where good meals can be obtained by the 
stranger. The second floor contains a dis- 
play of historical relics. 

Next to the Juniel Mansion this building 
is more closely associated with the memory 
of Washington than any other on the island, 
and is the mecca of many a patriotic pil- 
grimage. The Chamber of Commerce 
was organized here in 1756, and the Tavern 
211 



was the scene of many spirited meetings 
by the Sons of Liberty prior to the Revolu- 
tion. 

The Shopping District 

Aside from its artistic and historic value, 
this little volume is also intended to be of 
practical use to the stranger in New York; 
to point out the many attractions, com- 
forts, novelties and places of interest which 
tend to make a visit enjoyable. As many 
of our readers have heard much about the 
great stores of New York, wewill com- 
mence with a short sketch of its famous 
shopping districts. 

Fifth Avenue from Madison Square to 
Central Park is now a very important re- 
tail section. The cross streets from Madi- 
son Avenue west to Broadway are always 
included as part of this same district. Broad- 
way from Astor Place to Grace Church in- 
cludes the great Wanamaker stores, com- 
prising a retail section by itself, with subway 
station, and street cars connecting with all 
parts of the city. From 14th Street west to 
Sixth Avenue and north on Sixth Avenue to 
34th Street is another famous region. This 
includes J. B. Greenhut's great shops O'l 
both sides of Sixth Avenue at i8th Street. 
Simpson-Crawford's, Cammeyer's, Alexand- 

213 




The old sLoie ol Jos. Wild &. Co., im- 
porters of Oriental Rugs and Carpets in 
Worth vStreet, 1870. Now at 5th Ave. 
& 3Sth St. Established 1852 



er's, Gimbel's, Saks', Macy's and others. It 
may truly be said that nowhere else in the 
world are found such magnificent buildings 
devoted to retailing, such alluring shop win- 
dows, or such a profuse_ display of costly 
merchandise. The handicraft of the lead- 
ing artisans of the world in all lines is here 
displayed to the buyer from every part of 
the country. For New York depends not 
only on its home trade, but also upon the 
half million visitors or more who come here 
every day for a long or short sojourn. And 
so well do its merchants realize this fact, 
that special shipping facilities are at the 
constant service of the passing stranger. 
The same courteous and liberal treatment 
in the matter of exchanges, refunds, etc., 
which is provided for the regular every-day 
patron is also extended to the non-resident 
customer. 

Many of our firms enjoy a national repu- 
tation. All have the confidence of the home 
folks. Among so many desirables, it is hard 
to make a selection, and only the limits of 
our space curtail the list. 

The following houses will be found among 
the most important in the Fifth Avenue sec- 
tion. They are grouped under their respect- 
ive callings: 



215 




Murray Street, Dr. Mason's Church, 1825. 



Departmenl Stores 
R. n. INlacy & Co. Gimbel Brothers 

Saks & Company Hearn's 

Dry Goods 
B. Altman & Co. J. M. Giddings & Co. 

Lord & Taylor Stern Bros. 

Jas. McCreery & Co. Arnold, Constable & Co. 

Women's Apparel 
Bonwit Teller & Co. Stewart & Co. 

Mary Anderson Warner Oppenheim, Collins & 
Louise it Co. Co. 

Alice Maynard Franklin Simon & Co. 

Children's Outfitters 
Best & Co. 

Jewelers 
Tiffany & Co. Marcus & Co. 

Black, Starr «& Frost Schumann's Sons. 

Gorham & Co. Dreiser and Company 

Tecla Reed and Barton 

Fredericks IMerriden Brittania Co. 

T. Kirkpatrick & Co. 
Furriers 
A. Jaeckel & Co. C. G. Gunther Sons 

Leather Goods and Trunks 
Mark Cross Crouch & Fitzgerald 

Men's Clothing 
Rogers Peet & Co. Brill Bros. 

Brooks Bros. Smith Gray & Co. 

Brokaw Bros. Weber & Heilbroner 

Wallach Bros. _, 

F. A. O. Schwartz ~: 

Sporting Goods 
X. G. Spaulding&Bros. Wright & Ditson 
Ambercrombie & Fitch 

217 




Steinvvay and Sons' first Piano Factory as it 
stood iu Walker Street in 1858. 



Principal Theatres and Amusement 
Places 

Academy of Music — E. 14th St. & Irving PI. 
Alhambra — 7th Ave., 126th St. 
American — Eighth Ave., 42th St. 
Astor — Broadway and 45th St. 
Belasco — 44th St., near Broadway. 
Berkeley Lyceum — 19 W. 44th St. 
Broadway— 'Qvoa.d.wa.y, 41st St. 
Carnegie Lyceum — 5 7th St. & 7th Ave. 
Carnegie Music Hall — 5 7th St. & 7th Ave. 
Casino — Broadway, sgth St. 
Century — Eighth Ave. and 5 2d St. 
Circle — Broadway and 60th St. 
Cohan's — Broadway, 43d St. 
Collier's — 41st St., east of Broadway. 
Colonial — Broadway and 6 2d St. 
Comedy — 41st St. bet. B'way & 6th Ave. 
Cort — 48th St., east of Broadway. 
Criterion — Broadway, 44th St. 
Daly's — Broadway, 30th St. 
Eden Musee — West 23d St., near 6th Ave. 
Eltinge—236West 42d St. 
Empire — Broadway, near 40th St. 
Fifth Avenue — Broadway, near 28th St. 
Forty-eighth St. — 48th St., east of B'way. 
Fulton — W. 46th St., near Broadway. 
Gaiety — 46th St. and Broadway. 
Garden — Madison Ave., 27th St. 
Garrick — 35th St., near 6th Ave. 
219 



Globe — Broadway, 46th St. 

Grand Central Palace — Lex. Av. 46th St. 

Grand Opera House — 23d St., 8th Ave. 

Hackett — West 4 2d St. 

Hammerstein's — Broadway, 42d St. 

Harlem Opera House — i2Sth St. 

Harris— West 4 2d St. 

Herald Square — Broadway, 35th St. 

Hippodrome — Sixth Ave. and 43d St. 

Hudson— W. 44th St. 

Irving Place — Irving Place. 

Keith's — 14th St., near Broadway. 

Knickerbocker — Broadway, at 38th St. 

Lenox Lyceum — E. 59th St. 

Lexington Opera House — Lex. Ave., s8th St. 

Liberty — West 4 2d St. 

Lincoln Square — 1947 Broadway. 

Little — 44th St., west of Broadway. 

Longacre — 48th St., west of Broadway. 

Lyceum — 45th St., near Broadway. 

Lyric — 43d St., near 7th Ave. 

Madison Sq. Garden — Madison Av., 26th St. 

Majestic — -59th St. and Broadway. 

Manhattan — West 34th St. 

Maxine Elliott's — 39th St., near B'way. 

Metropolis^E. 14 2d St. and Third Ave. 

Metropolitan Opera House — B'way, 40th St. 

Murray Hill — Lexington Ave., 42d St. 

New Amsterdam — 42d St., 7th Ave. 

New York — Broadway, 44th St. 

Palace — Broadway, 47th St. 




'I lie Store of Al)rali:tm iS: Strauss in lower 

I'ullon Strcot, Hrooklyn, i.-stahlished 18O5, 

Now occupy a whole bloek in heart 

of shopping district. 



Playhouse — 48th St., east of Broadway. 
Princess — 29th St. and Broadway. 
Proctor's — (i) 23d St. (2) 58th St. (3) 

B'way and 28th St. (4) E. 125th St. 
Republic — West 42d St. 
Savoy — 34th St. and Broadway. 
Strand — Broadway and 48th St. 
Stuyvesant— W est 44th St. 
Thirty-ninth Street — 39th St., nr. B'way. 
Victoria^Broadway and 42d St. 
Vitagraph — 'Broadway and 43d St. 
Wallick's — Broadway, 30th St. 
Weber's — Broadway, 29th St. 
West £«J— 125th St., 8th Ave. 
Winter Garden — 50th St. and Broadway. 
ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS. 
American Museum of Natural History — 
American Water Color Society — For time 

and Place of exhibitions see daily papers. 
Metropolitan Museum of Art. 
New York Public Library — Paintings, books, 

prints, etc. 
National Academy of Design. 
Van Cortlandt Mansion. 
The Aquarium — Battery Park. 
N. Y. Historical Society — 77th & Central 

Park West. 

Moving Picture Shows are scattered 

throughout the city in every section, and 

range in price from 5 cents to 25 cents, though 

special attractions are as high as 50 cents, 

223 



How to Save Time Seeing the City 

While New York is a large city there are 
few places where the transportation facili- 
ties are so convenient and where they are 
so rapid. Subway and Elevated stations 
appear almost every half dozen blocks 
while street cars and Fifth Avenue stages 
can be had at every comer. Taxicabs are 
also fairly reasonable but it is wise to ar- 
range in advance regarding the charge for 
the latter. Hacks and hansoms are in the 
same category. The legal fare is not ex- 
cessive but the demands of the drivers 
frequently are. In case of a dispute do not 
argue with the latter but order him to drive 
to the nearest police station where the 
matter will be adjusted. 

Arrangements for automobiles are more 
satisfactory but of course much more ex- 
pensive. There are several reliable com- 
panies operating the latter but it is always 
better to have an understanding with them 
also regarding charges. Disputes are dis- 
agreeable and can be avoided by adopting 
the suggestion above. 

If time permits there is no way in which 
the city can be seen better than by walking. 
The next best thing is a seat on top of the 
Fifth Avenue coaches. They traverse a most 
interesting part of the city and the experi- 
225 



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ence rivals the famous London busses, a 
ride on which no experienced traveller 
misses. The elevated and street cars are 
also interesting but for obvious reasons can- 
not compare to the top of a bus. 

For the benefit of those who have time 
and inclination to walk we append a list 
of interesting places laid out in sections. 
The start to all of these is at the end of 
either a subway or elevated and can be 
reached quickly from any part of town. 
Then you may begin the journey a-foot. 
As this table covers immense distances it 
may be well to divide the trip somewhat. 
Broadway for instance, is fifteen miles long. 
If you want to see the biggest skyscrapers, 
begin at Bowling Green — a station of the 
subway. The "Great White Way" is three 
miles further north on Broadway. When 
you are through with the skyscraping sec- 
tion which ends at City Hall, get in the 
subway for the Great White Way and get 
out at Times Square and go south to 34th 
Street. The other districts should be trav- 
eled in the same way. Any hotel clerk 
will tell you what stations to get out at 
or enter. 

2. Broadway. Skyscrapers, Trinity 
and Grace Churches, Union Sq., 
Madison Sq., Greeley Sq., Herald 
227 




lypical OlVirc I'.ml.ling in tlir 
Financial District. 



Sq,. "Great White Way," Times 

Sq 24 

Fifth Avenue. Washington Sq. 
and Arch, New York PubUc Li- 
brary, St. Patrick's Cathedral, 

Plaza, Residential Section 40 

Battery and Bowling Green. Cus- 
tom House, Produce Exchange, 
Battery Park, Governor's laland. 
Liberty Statue, Ellis Island, 

Aquarium 52 

Bowling Green to Wall Street. 
Stock Exchange, Sub-Treasury, 
Assay Office, Financial District, 

Fraunces' Tavern 59 

Wall to Fulton Street. Clearing 
House, Chamber of Commerce, 
Insurance and Jewelry Districts. 
Fulton to Chambers Street. Post 
Office, Printing House So., City 
Hall Park, Hall of Records, Mu- 
nicipal Building, Leather District. 70 
Chambers to Canal Street. Civic 
Center, Tombs and Criminal 
Courts, Ivlulberry Bend, China- 
town, Hudson River Day Line. 75 
Canal to Houston Street. Ghetto, 
Bowery, Bradstreet's, Police 

Headquarters 84 

Houston to 14th Street. Cooper 

Union, Greenwich Village 89 

22g 










kX^pm ■»..* -uj. <i 'L^ jjg"***-*- 




i4th to 23d Street. Washington 
Irving High School, Hebrew- 
Charities, Tammany Hall, Stein- 
way Hall, Chelsea Piers, Sixth 

Ave. Shopping District 96 

23d to 34th Street. Metropolitan 
Life Ins. Co. Building, Appellate 
Court House, Madison Sq. Gar- 
den, "Little Church Around the 
Comer," Bellevue Hospital, Penn- 
sylvania Station loS 

34th to 42d Street. Murray Hill, 
Bryant Park, Hotel Navarre. ... 118 
42d to 50th Street. Grand Central 
Terminal, Board of Education, 

Clubs and Theatre Districts 124 

3Qth to iioth Street, East. Rocke- 
feller Institute, Normal College, 

Fire Department I35 

Central Park. Menagerie, Obe- 

Hsk, Museum of Art 141 

SQth to iioth Street, West. Col- 
umbus Circle, Museum of Natural 
History, Academy of Design, 

Riverside Drive 148 

Iioth to 130th Street. Cathedral of 
St. John the Divine, Columbia 
University, Grant's Tomb, Harlem 155 
I30lh Street to Kingsbridge. Col- 
lege of the City of New York, 
231 



Fort George, Deaf and Dumb 
Institute i6i 

20. Bronx. Parks, New York Uni- 
versity and Hall of Fame 166 

21. Brooklyn. Navy Yard, Green- 
wood Cemetery, Prospect Park, 
Fort Hamilton, Coney Island. . . 171 

22. Queens. Long Island City, 
Flushing, Jamaica, Rockaway. . . 178 

23. Richmond. Sailors' Snug Harbor, 
Billop House, South and Mid- 180 
land Beaches, Fort Wadsworth. . 180 

Hotels 182 

Theatres 184 

Index 185 

Five Boroughs Constitute the City 
of New York 

Total Population Jan. i, 1914, 5. 583, 871. 

Including nearby Suburbs 7,833,982. 

The BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN, 
which is what we mean when we say New 
York City, consists of Manhattan Island 
and a few small islands in the bay and in 
the East River. It is about 13 miles long, 
with an average width of two miles, with 
an area of 18.80 sq. miles and population of 
2,435,102. Hudson River, called locally 
North River, lies on the west, separating 
it from New Jersey. The East River, on 

233 



the east, separates it from the boroughs of 
Brooklyn and Queens. The Harlem River, 
on the north, separates it from the borough 
of the Bronx. On the South is New York 
Bay. The BOROUGH OF BRONX is 
across the Harlem River from Manhattan. 
Its area is 40.6 sq. miles and its population 
741,986. The BOROUGH OF BROOK- 
LYN comprises Kings County, including 
the former city of Brooklyn. The area is 
80.93 sq. miles and the population 2,000,848. 
North and east of Brookljm is the BOR- 
OUGH OF QUEENS, consisting of the 
former Long Island City and a number of 
old villages. The area is 117.36 sq. miles 
and the population 376,089. The BOR- 
OUGH OF RICHMOND consists of 
Statep Island, with an area of 57.18 sq. 
miles and population of 97,870. It lies in 
the bay five miles south of Manhattan. 
The total population of the greater city is 
5,583,871; including the suburbs, from 
which_ people commute to New York, it 
is (estimated) 7,800,000. 

Old Castle Garden 

The circular building which is now the 
Aquarium was originally a fort, Castle 
Clinton, built for the defense of the city 
against the British in the War of 18 12; and 

235 




Mr. Jaiiics H. RcRaii's lanioiis hosulry — - 
the KiiitkorlKH-kiT Hotel, cor. Broad- 
way and 42iid Street. 



the spot where it stands was then an island 
200 feet from the shore. When, in 1822, 
Congress ceded the property to the city, it 
was converted into a place of amusement, 
and was named Castle Garden. It became 
the home of opera, and was a place for 
great public gatherings. Here on Lafay- 
ette's return to America in 1824, six thou- 
sand persons assembled to greet him. Here 
in 183s S. F. B. Morse, the inventor of the 
telegraph, publicly demonstrated by means 
of a wire coiled about the interior of the 
Garden, the practicability of controlling 
the electric current. Here in 1850 Jenny 
Lind, the Swedish singer, made her Ameri- 
can debut, under the management of P. T. 
Barnum. The Prince of Wales and Louis 
Kossuth arrived here. From 1855 to 1890 
Castle Garden was an immigrant bureau, 
through whose portals millions of immi- 
grants entered America and as such is well 
remembered by many persons. It became 
the Aquarium in 1896. 

The City's Office Building 

THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING, the 
grandest and highest municipal building 
in the world, covers three irregular city 
blocks. It is occupied exclusively by the 
employees of the city who number over 

237 




The Waldorf Astoria Hotel, erected on the 

site of the old Astor homesteads on 5th 

Ave., between 33d and 34th i^ts- 



7,Soo — quite a town by itself. The build- 
ing has 26 stories, rising to a height of 330 
ft. above the street, surmounted by a tower 
210 ft. high, and holding eight stories. 
The total height from the subway arcade to 
the top of the 24-ft. figure on the tower is 
560 ft. The principal front, facing Centre 
St., is 448 ft. long, the rear on Park Row is 
361 ft., the Duane St. side is 339 ft. and the 
Tryon Row side, facing the south, is 71 ft. 
long. The foundation is 130 ft. below the 
street level and 90 ft. below water level. 
The cost of the building is about $10,000,- 
000. The mayor's ofhce and the chambers 
of the Board of Aldermen, and offices re- 
quired by close subordinates of the Mayor 
and Aldermen and the Police, Fire and Dock 
Departments are still continued in the City 
Hall. 

Highest Priced Real Estate in New 
York 

No. I Wall Street, the eighteen-story 
office building, on the southeast comer of 
Wall Street and Broadway, stands on a plot 
30 X 30 feet, which was bought in 1906 for 
$654,456, or $576 per square foot, or $4 per 
square inch. The first floor and basement, 
28 X 28 feet, rent for $40,000 a year. At 
this rate the ordinary building lot 25 x 100 
ft. would bring one million four hundred 




The I lotel Astor on site of Lonnacre Farm 

Broadway, 44th and 45th Streets. 

Mr. W. C. Muschenheim, Prop. 



and forty thousand dollars. Would you 

sell your plot for this? 

Specially Interesting Features Which 

Should Not Be Missed. 
New York Skyscrapers 
Battery Park 
The Statue of Liberty 
Custom House 
Bowling Green 
The Produce Exchange 
Trinity Church 
Wall Street 
St. Paul's Chapel 
City Hall Park 

New York and Brooklyn Bridges 
Grace Church 
Union Square 
Madison Square 
The Appellate Court House 
The Aladison Square Garden 
Fifth Avenue 
Central Park 

Metropolitan IMuseUm of Art 
Grand Central Terminal 
Herald and Times Squares 
Riverside Drive 
Grant's Tomb 
Morningside Heights 
Bronx Park 
Van Cortlandt Park 
The Subway 

241 







The Pkiza Hotel— 50th Street facing Central 

Park. Perhaps the most imposing site 

for a hotel in the country. 



LEADING HOTELS IN NEW YORK 

WITH THEIR LOCATIONS, NUMBER 

OF ROOMS AND MINIMUM RATE 

PER DAY. EUROPEAN PLAN 

Albemarle-Hoff'n. 500 Si. so Bwy. 24. St. 

Albert 450 i . 00 11. Univ'y PI. 

Algonquin 250 2. 50 59 W. 44. St. 

Ansonia 600 2. 00 Bwy. 73d St. 

Arlington 140 i.oo 18 W. 25. St. 

Astor 1,000 2.50 Bwy. 44. St. 

Athens 125 2. 00 30 E. 42dSt. 

Belleclaire 320 2.00 Bwy. 77 St. 

Belmont 700 2. 50 Park Ave. 42. 

Beresford 2502.0081 Cen'l PkW 

Biltmore 1,000 2. 00 Mad. Av. 43. 

Bonta-Narrag'n'tt 300 2.00 216 West 94. 

Breslin 500 i. 50 Bwy. 29. St. 

Bretton Hall 520 i. 00 Bwy. 86. St. 

Brevoort 1201.50 Fifth Ave. 8. 

Bristol 180 I. 50 122 W. 49. 

Broadway Central 600 i.oo Bwy. 3d St. 

Broztell 250 2.00 3 E. 27th St. 

Buckingham 260 i. 50 Fifth Ave. 50. 

Chelsea 5001.50222 W. 23d. 

Claridge 250 2. 50 Bwy. 44. St. 

Collingwood 250 1.504SW. 3Sth 

Cumberland 250 2. 50 Bwy. 54. St. 

Empire 270 i.oo Bwy. 63. St. 

Endicott 600 I.oo Col'b's A.81. 

Earle 200 i. 00 103 Waverly 

243 




Hotel Ansonia, Brondway Ix'twicn 7-'nd and 
73rd Streets. 



Flanders 300 i. 50 135 W. 47. 

Gerard 400 i . 00 123 W. 44. 

Gotham 400 2 . 50 Fifth Av. 55. 

Great Northern... 400 1.50 118 W. 57th. 

Gregorian 225 2.00 43 W. 35- St. 

Herald Square .. . 310 i. 50 116 W. 34 St 

Hermitage 250 i. 50 Sevt'h A. 42. 

Holland House ... 3502.00 Fifth A v. 30. 

Holley 200 I. 50 36 Wash. Sq. 

Imperial 800 2.QoBwy. 31. St. 

Iroquois 160 2. 00 49 W. 44th. 

Judson 250 2. 50 53 Wash. Sq. 

Knickerbocker.... 600 2.soBwy.42. St. 

Latham 250 i . 50 4 E. 28th St 

Le Marquis 170 3. 00 12 E. 31st St 

Lorraine 250 2.00 Fifth Av. 45. 

McAlpin 600 i.SoBwy. 34. St. 

Majestic 700 i . so Cen. Pk.W 72 

Manhattan 700 2. SO Mad'n A. 42. 

Marie Antoinette 500 2.00 Bwy. 67. St. 

Marl'gh-Blenh'm. 400 1.50 Bwy. 36. St. 

Martha Wash'g'n 425 i. SO 29 E. 29th St. 

Martinique 625 2.00 Bwy. 33. St. 

Murray Hill 600 2.00 ParkAv. 40. 

Navarre 350 i • So Sev'h Av. 38. 

Netherland 400 2. 00 Fifth Av. 59- 

New Grand 400 i. 00 Bwy. 31. St. 

New Weston 200 3. 00 Mad. Av. 49. 

Park Ave 430 i. 50 Park Av. 32. 

Plaza 750 2. 50 Fifth Av. 59. 

Prince George.. .. 600 2, 00 14 E. 28. St. 

245 



Renaissance 350 2. 50 S12 Fifth A. 

Ritz-Carlton 425 5- 00 Mad. Av. 46. 

St. Andrew 250 i. 50 Bwy. 72. St. 

St. Denis 250 i. 00 Bwy. 11. St. 

St. Lorenz 2002.00127 E. 72d. 

St. Regis 340 3- 00 Fifth Av. 55. 

San Remo 600 i. 50 Cen. Pk.W74 

Savoy Soo 2. 00 Fifth Av. 59- 

Seville 475 i . 50 Mad. Av. 29. 

Seymour 250 i. so 44 W. 45 St. 

Sherman Square . 500 i.oo Bwy. 71. St. 

Sherry's 150 4. 00 Fifth Av. 44. 

Somerset 225 i. 50 150 W. 47 St. 

Theresa 300 r. 50 125. Sev'h A. 

Tirnes Square. . . . 100 i. 50 206 W. 43 St. 

Union Square. .. . 130 1.50 Union Sq. 15. 

Vanderbilt 600 3. 00 Park Av. 34. 

Waldorf-Astoria.. 1,000 3.00 Fifth Av. 34. 

Wallick 400 I. 00 Bwy. 43. St. 

Walton 210 2. 00 104 W. 70. St. 

Webster 160 3. 00 40 W. 45. St. 

Wolcott 300 2. 00 4 W. 31st St. 

Woodstock 365 2. 00 127 W. 43 St. 

Woodward 400 2. 00 Bwy. 55. St. 

York 250 I. SO Sevt'h A. 36. 



247 




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Now homo Uoeere Peet & Co- 



Laying Out the City in 1807 

Brief mention has already been made of 
how the city was laid out in checkerboard 
fashion early in the last century. So re- 
markable has the growth of the city been 
that an excerpt from the Commissions' re- 
port at that time is almost amusing consid- 
ering later developments. The Corr.mis- 
sioners Map laying out the streets of Man- 
hattan as planned by them during their 
labours of four years was finally adopted in 
1811. In their report concerning this map 
they commented as follows: 

"To some it may be a matter of sur- 
prise, that the whole island has not been 
laid out as a City; to others, it may be a 
subject of merriment, that the Commis- 
sioners have provided space for a greater 
population than is collected at any spot 
on this side of China. They have in this 
respect been governed by the shape of 
the ground. It is not improbable that 
considerable numbers may be collected 
at Haerlem, before the high hills to the 
southv/ard_ of it shall be built upon as a 
city; and it is improbable, that (for cen- 
turies to come) the grounds north of 
Haerlem Flat will be covered with 
houses." 
In adopting their plan for straight lines for 
249 








Tlic niLMt Store of Gimbel Hrothers on Grcclcy 
Siiuaro brtwcen 3Jiu1 and 33rd Slicels. 
Near Tenn. R. li. Station. 



laying out the city instead of embellishing 

the plan with circles, ovals and stars, the 

commissioners said: 

"they could not but bear in mind that a 
city is to be composed principally of the 
habitations of men, and that strait sided, 
and right angled houses are the most 
cheap to build and the most convenient 
to live in. The effect of these plain and 
simple reflections was decisive." 
No man living could have foreseen the 

marvellous growth of New York. 

Beginnings of Free Public Education 

The magnificence of New York's Public 
School System is the admiration not only 
of its own citizens but of the outside world 
as well. A brief account of its modest be- 
ginnings will be of interest. A comparison 
of historic old Henry Street School with the 
present Erasmus, De Witt Clinton, Wash- 
ington Irving or Wadleigh is something of 
which we all have a right to be proud. 

In 1637 the first school was established 
by the Dutch at New Amsterdam. Adam 
Roelantsen was appointed Schoolmaster. 
In 1642 he built a house in which he taught 
school, and a tablet on the Produce Ex- 
change on Stone Street placed by the 
Schoolmasters' Club of New York in 1910, 
marks the site of this school house. 

251 




The famous Anderson Ciallcrics, Madison 

Avenue and 40th St , wliere the Hoe 

Library was sold and this little 

book is published. 



Our present school system is the out- 
growth of the formation of the Free School 
Society established in 1805, when the city 
had a population of 75,770. Private and 
church schools up to this time were the only 
means of education. De Witt Clinton was 
the leader of the Free School Society and 
its first president. 

The first school building erected by this 
society was built in 1809 in Henry Street. 
The ground was given by Col. Rutgers for 
the purpose. The development since then 
has been rapid and continuous. 

"Old Merchants of New York" 

As already explained elsewhere in these 
pages, the formal beginning of New York's 
commerce dates from 161-i — three hundred 
years ago. Notwithstanding all the rapid 
and remarkable changes which have oc- 
curred in New York since that time, there 
are still not a few firms among us who are 
more than a century old, and one of them 
began while the city was still a colonial 
possession. Peter and George Lorillard 
now P. Lorillard Co. established in 1760 are 
still interested in tobacco. F. W. Devoe & 
Co., and C. T. Raynolds are the successors 
of old Billy Post's paint store in Water 
Street shown in Valentine's Manual, but 

253 



there are no Posts in the firm nor any de- 
scendants of the original partners, nor is the 
name used in the business which began in 
1766. W. H. Schiffehn & Co. was estab- 
lished in 1794 by Lawrence and Schiffelin. 
and the vSchiffelin family still control it. 
The Bank of New York, 1794. is unique in 
that it has occupied the same building in 
the same location for over a hundred years. 
Among the Real Estate men the pre- 
miership must go to the Corporation of 
Cruikshank Company at 141 Broadway. 
This business was originally established in 
1794 by William Cruikshank who had some 
years before that come to this country from 
Aberdeenshire, Scotland. His first office 
was in his residence, and was located at 40 
Greenwich Street, southwest comer of what 
was then known as Beaver Lane, but now 
known as Morris Street. There he con- 
ducted a general real estate business, in- 
cluding renting, selling, collecting rents and 
also wharfage from the piers along the river 
fronts. He was succeeded in 1831 by his 
son James Cruikshank, who continued the 
business at 40 Greenwich Street and later 
at 48 Greenwich Street and SS Broadway. 
James Cruikshank was considered one of 
the best real estate experts of his time. He 
retired in 1865, and was succeeded by his 
eldest son, Edwin A. Cruikshank, who did 
255 




iLirrini.m .Nalmnal Hank ami olVices of 

American Rual Estate Co., on site of 

Willow iicj inn. 527 5lh Ave. 



ana r,. a. «^ruiKsnanK irom 1S05 to : 
when the firm of E. A. Cruikshank & ( 
pany was organized with Edwin A. C 
shank and his brother Augustus W. C 
shank, Warren Cruikshank, another br( 
was admitted to tliis firm in 1886. 
firm was continued up to November i, 
when the corporation of Cruikshank ( 
pany was formed. The present office 
the Cruikshank Company are: Wi 
Cruikshank, President; William L. De^ 
vice-president; William B. Harding, t 
urer; Russel V. Cruikshank, secre 
George _ W. Cornell, assistant Treas 
and Clifford A. Atkinson, assistant £ 
tary. Its directors are: Edwin A. C 
shank, Warren Cruikshank, Willian 
Porter, Robert L. Gerry, R. Horace C 
tian, Williami L. DeBost and Williai 
Harding. 

The Cruikshank Company repre 
among its clients many of the wealt 
and most influential families in this c 
try, some of whom are descendants o 
families who were clients at the time 
original business was started, and it 
charge of property that it and its p: 
cessors have continued to manage 1 
1794. 

The Bank of the Manhattan Com] 

257 




The Vanderbilt Hotel, Park Avenue and 
34th Street. 



is also included in the list of those dating 
from the eighteenth century. 

Coming to the nineteenth century we 
find the Evening Post estabhshed in 1800; 
R. C. Williams & Co., i8oi,_the first im- 
portant wholesale grocery firm in New York. 
They are now in Hudson Street and the 
Williams still control it. Colgate & Co. the 
well-known soap and perfumery makers are 
also very much in evidence today, five 
grandsons of the founder — all brothers and 
all Yale graduates — being in active control 
of this great firm. Cowperthwait & Co, 
1809, have greatly enlarged and improved 
the little _ chair manufacturing business 
started originally by George B. Cowper- 
thwait in Chatham Square. Direct de- 
scendants of the original founder are to- 
day in control as has been the case for over 
a century. The list of those a century old 
and over is quite impressive considering the 
almost complete stoppage of business dur- 
ing the Revolution and perhaps this does 
not include them all. Of those who are 
not quite a century old but near it, the list 
grows quite materially. The National City 
Bank obtained its charter in 18 16; Lord 
and Taylor date from 1826; C. G. Gunther 
Sons, 1826; Arnold, Constable & Co., 1829; 
G. A. Hearn & Son, 1838; Benedict Bros., 
1830; Brooks Bros., 1830; Russel and 




New oflice building. West 4()tli Stntt, 

opposite the Library. KwiiiK, Bacon 

& Henry, Agents. loi Park Ave. 



Erwin Co., 1836; Hardman & Peck Co., 
1838; Wm. Knabe & Co., 1837; Steinway 
& Sons, 1835; R. E. Dietz Co., 1830, 
who made the first lanterns when coal 
oil was first introduced to be followed 
later by kerosene; Yale & Towne who put 
an end to the old-fashioned door keys, 1838; 
Kemp. Day & Co., 1833; Church & Co., 
1836; Thaddeus Davids & Co., 1830. 

As we come down to the middle of the 
last century, we find that the list of houses 
more than half a century old begins to leng- 
then very materially and include such well- 
known firms as Black, Starr & Frost; W. & 
J. Sloane; Gorham; Tiffany; Pond, the Music 
Publishers; Geo. W. Walsh & Son, who are 
on the same block downtown where Tiffany, 
Young & Ellis were in the fifties. Davis 
Collamore Co.; James McCreery & Co.; 
R. H. Macy & Co.; Brokaw Bros.; James 
McCutcheon; Rogers & Bros., silverware, 
almost a dozen banks, insurance companies, 
etc.; H. B. Claflin & Co.; Charles 
Scribner's Sons, the Publishers; Harper 
& Bros.; D. Appleton & Co., and several 
of our newspapers. 

Mergers into corporations have caused the 
disappearance of many individual firms 
that were well known many years ago, but 
are still in the same business. Semon 
Bache & Co. is the only one left of the old 
261 





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Capt. C.iwiiliin's KKai sloic at 6tli Ave. 
and 1 8th St. Another buildinn opposite 
completes this wonderful establishment. 



glass houses conducting business as in the 
old days, the others having combined with 
various amalgamations. 

The wholesale grocery trade has also 

undergone radical changes: Austin Nichols 

& Co.; Francis H. Leggett & Co.; R. C. 

, Williams & Co., having grown to huge di- 

[ mensions. The great house of H. K. & F. 

B. Thurber & Co. left no successor. 

Undoubtedly many firms a half century 
old and over are om.itted from this list. It 
would be interesting to compile a complete 
collection of these names for use in future 
. editions, and we shall be glad if any of 
! our readers will help to complete it by send- 
ing us additional names from time to time 
as they may secure them. In this way we 
. shall ultimately hope include them all. 
The recent death of John G. Wendel 
recalls the fact that Christian G. Gunther, 
f'junder of the great business now of 
Fifth Avenue that bears his name, went to 
work as a journeyman furrier for Wendel 's 
father who was in the fur business before 
he went into real estate. John Jacob 
Astor was Wendel's brother-in-law, and 
both followed the same ideas in business — 
first furs then real estate. The Gunthers, 
however, have steadily pursued the fur busi- 
ness and their store today has no superior 
in lavish appointments and wonderful stock. 
263 




Arnold & I learn, in Canal Street, 1826, 
now llcaru's in 14th Street. 



Antedating even the Gunthers is Balch, 
Price & Co., of Brooklyn, who have been in 
the business since 1809. Brooklyn itself 
was then scarcely more than a trading 
post and the Balch firm bought peltries 
and skins from the hunters of Long Island. 

Beginning of the Telephone 

Old historic John Street, which in Revo- 
lutionary days sustained Xew York's only 
theatre and where President Washington 
heard for the iirst_ time "Hail Columbia" 
played by Fyles, its composer; where the 
first Methodist Church in America was 
established and which still continues in 
active service on the same site and piously 
preserves the original clock presented by 
the great John Wesley himself, — rendered 
an even more important service to the city 
when one of its enterprising merchants 
ordered the installation of the first paid 
telephone in New York at No. 81. This 
was in 1877, and Mr. J. Lloyd Haigh has 
fortunately been spared to see the enormous 
development of the service to which he was 
the first paying subscriber in New York. 
The line connected Mr. Haigh 's office in 
New York with his factory in South Brook- 
lyn, and the wires were run across the 
tliicn unfinished Brooklyn Bridge, being 
265 




The U. S, Sub-Trcasiiry, cor. Wall and 
Xasbau Streets. 



five miles long. It cost Si, 500 to install, 
which was a prodigious sum in those days 
for a venture of this kind. 

When the line was in full working order, 
Mr. Haigh's office was frequently visited by 
his neighbors who nad heard about the 
wonderful talking machine and wished to 
test for themselves the truth of what they 
had heard. At the request of the writer, 
Mr. Haigh viewed the picture of the block 
in John Street shown elsewhere, which is 
taken from a drawing made at the time, and 
he recalls the block just as we now show it. 
It makes an accurate and valuable remem- 
brance of an interesting event. Events have 
moved so fast and development has been so 
rapid in the telephone business,_ that the 
history which we are recording is not yet 
imbued with that romance and miysticism 
which Time alone can impart. Future 
writers on New York, however, will devote 
much time and space to 81 John Street, and 
its importance will increase as the years go 
by. The site of Bradford's printing office 
is marked with a bronze tablet; the site of 
the first telephone is equally important. 

Mr. Haigh's neighbors — W. & B. Doug- 
lass, Kidder, Wetherel & Company, Felix 
Campbell, George W. Head Mfg. Company, 
Jenkins Bros., Alex. Agar & Company — are 
all old-time New York merchants, and are 

267 



■ 


^^^^^^5."^^^^^^^^^^ 




^^^^^9^^^^^^!^^^ 







TliL- taiiu)iiri Mcuopolite-ii Tower on Madi- 
son Syuarc, with Mailisoii Square Garden 
at left. 



still in business on or near the block, 
and it is a pleasure to record their names 
in this sketch, as they were all among 
the early converts to the telephone, in- 
fluenced doubtless by the example of Mr. 
Haigh. _ 

In this brief sketch, we must necessarily 
omit detailed reference to the splendid per- 
sonal work of Charles A. Cheever and Hil- 
bourne L. Roosevelt, the men who first 
brought the telephone to the attention of 
New Yorkers. While their efforts were not 
crowned with financial success, they must 
alwai^s be kindly remembered in any sketch 
pertaining to the introduction of the 
telephone. 

By a_ singular coincidence. No. 15 Dey 
Street, in the same neighborhood, is now 
one of the main offices of the Telephone 
Company. At that address in those days 
was L. G. Tillotson & Company, who en- 
joyed the proud distinction of having re- 
fused a credit of $15.00 to the Telephone 
Company for supplies. 

It is quite within reason to say that the 
service of the Telephone today in New York 
is far in advance of similar service in any 
city in the world. There are now nearly 
six hundred thousand telephones in use and 
the number of messages received and sent 
mounts up daily into the milUons. And all 
269 




The Curb Market in Broad Street near 
Stock Excliange. Courtisy Undcrhill. 



this to the entire satisfaction of the most 
exacting clientele in the world. 

There are many men still living who 
clearly remember the early days of the 
Telephone. To them the present conditions 
are simply short of marvellous. 

The "Swamp" 

For nearly two centuries that portion of 
our city devoted to the leather trade has 
been known as "the Swamp." It formerly 
extended from about John to Cliff, and 
from William to Gold Streets, and in early 
days was occupied by tanners. Even now, 
when excavating for new buildings, some of 
the old vats are encountered. 

Many famous firms have had their head- 
quarters here — the Hoyts, the Fayerweath- 
crs, Ladews, Schierens, Youngs, Mulfords, 
Careys, Conklins, and many others since 
absorbed by the Leather Trust. 

The Schieren building occupies the site 
of old St. George Chapel on the corner of 
Beekman and Cliff Streets and is now the 
most imposing building in this historic 
neighborhood. Our picture on page 34 
shows this corner in the days of its social 
eminence when_ it was one of the leading 
fashionable residence streets of old New 
York. 

271 



The huge Schieren business now almost 
half a century old is a monument to the 
business sagacity and industry of its founder 
the Hon. Charles A. Schieren, who some 
years ago was elected mayor of Brooklyn, 
and served with distinction. He retired 
from active participation in the business 
some years ago, the management of which 
is now in the hands of his sons who are 
proving worthy successors of a worthy sire. 
It is probably the largest tanning and belt- 
inghouse in the world, owns its own tan- 
neries in Tennessee, and controls the source 
of all of its other supplies. Mr. Charles 
A. Schieren, Jr., is the president of the 
company; G. Arthur Schieren, vice-presi- 
dent; and H. V. Schieren, secretary and 
treasurer. Few concerns in or out of the 
"Swamp" have achieved greater success 
in their lines, and the firm is known in 
every important commercial centre in the 
world. 

Notwithstanding the changes in many 
other lines, the leather trade still sticks to 
the old Leister farm although the "Swamp" 
that made it famous has long ago passed 
away. 




i<W« l^lfMIIM 



Wall Street looking West. Trinity in the distance. 
Bankers Trust Co. the tall tower at right. 



A New History of New York 

We have in press an entirely new work 
on New York which we think will commend 
itself to our readers. It differs from other 
histories in that its main purpose is to 
dwell at length on the marvelous develop- 
ment of our city in the 19th Century. 

More progress was made by the world at 
large in the hundred years following the in- 
troduction of Steam than in the two thou- 
sand years that preceded. 

The pictures of which there are nearly 200 
are taken from the three centuries and the 
contrast between the old and the new is at 
once striking and dramatic. 

Price S5.00 net. 

Recreation Piers 

Jutting out into the waters, therefore, a 
number of piers have been erected where 
relief from the torrid heat of summer is 
afforded and where sufficient protection is 
provided against any untoward interfer- 
ence. Dancing is one of the chief pleasures, 
but mothers with children are also cared 
for. 

27s 




The New Adams Express Company Sky- 
scraper, 6 1 Broadway. 



Its Marvellous Musexjms 

Turning from this to a more serious plane, 
we must give a high place to the Metro- 
politan Museum of Art. To the average 
reader this may seem as an incongruity. 
Yet, as a matter of fact, the Art Museum 
is the most practical, educational and help- 
ful of all our institutions. It caters first of 
all for the artisan and the student. Here 
are found the best examples of every school 
of art extant. An Adam, Heppehvaite, or 
Sheraton Chair for the furniture designer, 
is here in abundance; for the worker in 
leather, silver, _ copper, bronze, tapestries, 
or any of the industrial arts — the choicest 
examples of the greatest ancient and mod- 
ern artists are spread before him without 
money and without price. It is a liberal 
education to merely visit the Museum and 
a priceless possession to the man who knows 
how to make use of its treasures. 

Across from the Metropolitan is the 
Museum of Natural History. It is difficult 
to give an idea of the magnificent results 
achieved by this wonderful organization. 
Millions of money have been freely spent to 
obtain its present pre-eminence and the 
student can find nowhere else the remark- 
able specimens here placed at his disposal, 
for the mere trouble of a visit. 

277 



New York Historical Society 

Directly opposite the Museum of Natural 
History is the classic pile denoting the home 
of the New York Historical Society. Found- 
ed one hundred and ten years ago, it ranks 
as the oldest organization in continua ] ex- 
istence with the possible exception of St. 
Andrew's Society and the New York Hos- 
pital which began at the same time. The 
building from the street gives no': dea of the 
six stories or more wherein are stored the 
records of our city almost from its incep- 
tion. Under the Presidency of Mr. John 
Abeel Weekes, and Mr. R. H. Kelby, Libra- 
rian, the society has reached a distinguished 
position in the annals of New York. 
The Aquarium 

Elsewhere I have briefly referred to the 
Aquarium at the Battery — formerly Castle 
Garden. It would be difficult to describe 
the peculiar fascination this place has for 
old and young. It is visited by over two 
million persons every year and every one 
of them I am sure enjoyed the experience. 
All the curious denizens of the deep are here 
shown in real life and the tame seals are 
only one of many attractions. 

The Bronx Zoological Garden 

I presume the Zoo is the only other at- 
traction that rivals the Aquarium in popu- 

279 



lar interest. Wild animals always attract 
the yoving people and the Bronx Zoological 
Garden is now said to rank first in the 
world. It has undoubtedly a most remark- 
able collection and some extraordinary 
specimens, and with some recent additions 
it is now in a position to challenge compe- 
tition with any other similar organization 
in the world. The number of visitors every 
day is remarkable and on holidays they 
make a host in themselves. 



Old New York 

At the request of the late Mr. J. P. 
Morgan we prepared a volume on this 
subject which was handsomely bound, 
limited to less than three hundred copies 
and sold at Sioo.oo per_ copy. As a speci- 
men of bookmaking it is without a rival. 

About a dozen copies are left at this 
writing and any of our readers who may 
wish one will please communicate. 

The publication of this book revealed a 
much wider market for a work on this topic 
than we supposed existed. We are, there- 
fore, at work on such a project, and if 
possible will make the price 5 or 10 dollars. 



281 



Looking Backward 

A glance at the rapid growth in the value 
of New York real estate (and of securities 
based upon it) as shown by these old pic- 
tures in this book, ought to do much to 
stimulate further purchases by investors 
along this line. _ While values have greatly 
increased wnthin the past twenty years, 
the end of improvement is not yet in sight. 
New York grows better year by year, and 
no sounder argument is needed than this 
comparison with the recent past. 

Vast changes for the better have also 
marked the retail business. In the old days 
a good many tobacco stores were of doubtful 
reputation, poorly managed and slovenly. 
The bright, cheerful business like estal)- 
lishments of the United Cigar Stores has 
changed all that. The attractive smart 
looking drug stores of the Riker-Hegeman 
and Liggett type with their hue stocks and 
moderate prices are also a vast improve- 
ment over the dingy store and hold-up 
prices of the old time druggist. Specialty 
shops for men's haberdashery, Hats, Shoes 
and Clothing are also a great step in 
advance. 

Concerning Theatres, enquiries regarding 
reigning successes should be made at 
Tyson's Ticket Offices which are in most of 
the hotels, or daily newspapers. 

283 




The Singer Building, Broadway and 
Liberty Street 



Brooklyn Borough 

» This city of homes has a shopping 

[ district of its own on Fulton Street, where 

I two of the oldest firms in the city have 

stores which compare favorably with the 

best we have in Manhattan. 

The famous Loeser Department Store, 
was founded in 1869 at Fulton and Tillary 
Streets, it moved to the present site in 
1887 — Fulton Street at junction with De 
Kalb Avenue, Bond Street to Elm Place — ■ 
occupying two city blocks in the heart of 
the Brooklyn Shopping district; _ it has 
been enlarged ten times. In addition to 
the store it now has large warehouses and 
distributing stations in several sections of 
Brooklyn- 
Abraham & Strauss's store was founded 
in 1865 on lower Fulton Street until the 
bridge was opened; it now occupies an 
entire square in the center of this famous 
thoroughfare and is popularly known as 
the "A & S" store. It serves not only 
Brooklyn but Long Island as well. 

Brooklyn is noted for its wonderful 
churches, its famous Prospect Park with 
its annual Chrysanthemum show; its fine 
boulevards and last but not least the great 
and only Coney Island. Its schools de- 

28S 



!-9 



Charles & Co.'s new building, 43rd 
Street and V'anderbilt Avenue. 



servedly rank high and some of its insti- 
tutes, notably the Pratt Institute, is easily 
the foremost in equipment and curriculum 
of any in the country. Its Academy of 
Music, Museum of Art and Historical 
Society are among the best in any city. It 
deserves a special book all to itself in order 
to do it justice. 

For over a hundred years New York 
pity real estate has been steadily growing 
in value, paying large profits on and con- 
stantly increasing the safety of invest- 
ments based upon it, as is evidenced by the 
fortunes of the Astor, Rhinelander, Goelet 
and other noted estates. 

Private capital being inadequate for 
extensive operations in such a large field, 
many corporations are now engaged in 
.the business of buying and improving 
New York real estate for income or for 
sale, an idea which was originated in 
1888 by an association of capitalists calling 
themselves the American Real Estate Co. 
which has been enormously successful. 
From an original capital of Sioo,ooo, it 
now has a capital and surplus of nearly 
three and a quarter millions and has never 
missed a dividend on its securities. Start- 
ing in 1888 with a foundation capital of 
Sioo.ooo, it now has a Capital and Surplus 
of over $3,240,000. 

287 







M 


k 


(i-. 


i. 


'^'m 




r=iiii| 







Hotel Wallicks, Broadway and 43rd Street. 
Mr. H. R. Mallow, Manager. _ The leading 
commercial hotel in the theatrical district. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



014 222 855 5 f§ 



